UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


G-IFT  OF 


F»  L.  A. 

187  1. 

Accessions  No.  ./Z^f-.  .  Shelf  No. 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


TK 


HISTORY,  THEORY,  AND  PRACTICE 


OF    THE 


ELECTRIC    TELEGRAPH. 


BY 


GEORGE  B,   PRESCOTT, 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 


tTSITERSIT 


>>. 


r  RAfCClCCO 


BOSTON: 
TICKNOR     AND     FIELDS 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 

TICK  NOR     AND     FIELDS, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


University  Press,  Cambridge  : 
Electrotyped  and.  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co. 


^       TO 

CYRUS   W.    FIELD,    ESQ., 

TO     WHOSE     INDOMITABLE     ENERGY     AND     PERSEVERANCE 
.      SCIENCE    IS    INDEBTED 

FOR  THE  PRACTICAL  DEMONSTRATION  OP  ONE  OF  THE  GREATEST  ACHIEVEMENTS 
OF  ANCIENT  OR  MODERN  TIMES, 

THE  UNION  OF  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA  BY  THE  ELECTRIC  WIRE, 

Volume 


IS  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED 
BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


THERE  is  no  subject  upon  which  the  American  public 
should  be  better  informed,  and  none,  perhaps,  in  which 
it  should  feel  greater  pride,  than  in  that  of  the  foremost 
invention  of  the  age,  the  Electric  Telegraph ;  for  aside 
from  the  fact  that  three  of  the  best  systems  in  use  are 
American  inventions,  and  that  to  our  countrymen  is  due 
the  credit  of  producing  the  first  successful  recording  elec- 
tric telegraph,  it  is  more  generally  used  in  this  country 
than  in  any  other,  and  probably  more  than  in  all  others 
combined,  for  the  common  convenience  of  mankind. 

In  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  Great  Britain,  the 
use  of  the  telegraph  is  almost  wholly  under  the  control 
of  the  governments,  and  its  use  restricted  by  the  high 
rates  of  tolls  to  the  wealthier  classes,  while  in  this  coun- 
try it  is  alike  open  to  all,  and  telegraphic  despatches 
are  "  household  words "  among  the  poorer  as  well  as 
the  wealthier  citizens. 

The  wires  extend,  not  only  through  every  State  in  the 
Union,  from  Maine  to  Texas,  and  from  Massachusetts  to 
Kansas,  but  already  they  are  creeping  over  the  Rocky 


vi  PREFACE. 

Mountains,  and  erelong  we  shall  have  momentary  advices 
from  the  Pacific  States. 

We  have  endeavored  in  this  volume  to  explain  the 
principles  and  operations  of  the  various  systems  of  elec- 
tric telegraph  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  readily  com- 
prehended by  every  reader.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this,  we  have  in  the  first  three  chapters  given  a  brief 
treatise  upon  electricity  in  theory  and  practice. 

As  there  has  been  much  controversy  between  rival 
claimants  to  the  discovery  of  the  principles  of  the  elec- 
tric telegraph,  we  have  devoted  much  time  to  the  full 
consideration  of  the  claims  of  each,  and  present  the  facts 
so  obtained  to  the  impartial  judgment  of  the  reader. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION    .       ...       .       .       .       .       .       •       •       •    1 

x 

PART  I. 
PRELIMINARY    NOTIONS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

ELECTRICAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 

Derivation  of  the  Word  Electricity.  —  Electricity  developed  by  Friction. 

—  Positive  and  Negative   Conditions  of  Electricity.  —  Electric  Conduc- 
tibility.  —  Conductors   and   Non- Conductors.  —  Causes  which  influence 
Electric  Conductibility.  —  Tables  of  Conducting  and  Insulating  Bodies. 

—  Electricity  by   Communication.  —  Distinction  between  the  two  Elec- 
tricities. —  Neutralization  of  the    two    Electricities.  —  The  Earth  the 
Common  Reservoir.  —  Static  and  Dynamic  State  of  Electricity.  —  Theo- 
ries on  the  Nature  of  Electricity.         .        •"    . 11 

CHAPTER  II. 

PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 

The  Electrical  Machine.  —  Electricity  developed  by  Chemical  Action.  — 
Galvani's  Experiment.  —  Volta's  Column  Pile.  —  The  Discovery  of  the 
Electric  Current.  —  \rarious  Forms  of  Volta's  Pile.  —  Daniell's  Constant 
Battery.  —  Smee's  Constant  Battery.  —  Chester's  Telegraph  Battery.  — 
Electricity  in  Animals.  —The  Raia  Torpedo.  —  The  Gymnotus  Electri- 
cus,  or  Electric  Eel 19 

CHAPTER  HI. 

MAGNETISM. 

Derivation  of  the  Word  Magnet.  —  Loadstone  and  its  Properties.  —  Direc- 
tive Properties  of  the  Magnetic  Needle.  —  Analogy  existing  between 
Electric  and  Magnetic  Phenomena.  —  Oersted's  Discovery  of  Electro- 
Magnetism.  —  Mutual  Action  of  Magnetism  and  Electric  Currents.  — 
Mutual  Action  of  Two  Electric  Currents.  —  Ampere's  Theory  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  Magnets.  —  Investigations  to  determine  the  Conditions  most 
favorable  for- the  Development  of  powerful  Magnetism  in  Electro-Mag- 
nets. —  Electro-Magnetic  Galvanometers.  —  Induced  Currents.  —  Mag- 
neto-Electric Machines. — Induction  Coils.  —  RumkorfFs  Induction  Ap- 
paratus. —  Electro-Static  Effects  of  Electro-Dynamic  Induction.  .  .  88 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PART  II. 

GENEEAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 
CHAPTER    IV. 

Principal  Requisites  for  an  Electric  Telegraph.  —  The  Metallic  Conductors. 
—  Discovery  of  the  Conducting  Power  of  the  Earth.  —  Early  Experiments 
of  Messrs.  Wheatstone  and  Bain.  —  Application  of  the  Electro-Magnet 
for  actuating  an  Alarm.  —  M.  Vorselmann  de  Heer's  Electro-Physiological 
Telegraph.  —  Three  Grand  Divisions  in  the  Manifestations  of  the  Electric 
Current.  —  Steinheil's  the  First  Recording  Telegraph.  —  Controversy  re- 
garding the  Originality  of  Morse's  Telegraph.  —  Morse's  Telegraph  uni- 
versally adopted.  —  Various  Manifestations  of  the  Electric  Fluid.  —  High 
Tension  Electric  Telegraphs  of  Lesage,  Lomond,  Betancourt,  Reizen, 
Cavallo,  Ronalds,  and  Dyar.  —  Electro- Chemical  Telegraphs  of  Soemmer- 
ing  and  Coxe.  —  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs  of  Ampere,  Schilling, 
Gauss  and  Weber,  Steinheil,  and  Morse.  —  Masson's  Magneto-Electric  Tele- 
graph. —  Bain's  Electro-Chemical  Telegraph.  —  Home's  Electro-Thermal 
Telegraph.  —  Familiar  Nature  of  Electricity.  —  Conditions  upon  which 
the  Practical  Utility  of  the  Electric  Telegraph  depend.  —  High  Tension 
and  Low  Tension  Electricity  compared.  —  Rate  of  Travel  of  the  Electric 
Current.  —  Mode  of  obtaining  it.  —  Transmission  of  Signals  by  Electri- 
city.—  Intensity  of  Electric  Currents  upon  Telegraph  Lines.  —  Pouillet's 
Experiment's  in  Electro-Motive  Forces.  —  Explanation  of  the  Manner  in 
which  the  Earth  serves  as  a  Telegraphic  Conductor.  —  The  Null  Resist- 
ance of  the  Earth  to  Electric  Conductibility 53 

PART    III. 
ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 

The  Relay  Magnet.  —  The  Register  or  Recording  Apparatus.  —  The  Key, 
or  Transmitting  Instrument.  —  The  Combination  of  Circuits.  —  Descrip- 
tion bf  the  Receiving  Magnet.  —  Resistance  Coils,  or  Rheostats.  — Alpha- 
bet of  Dots  and  Lines.  —  The  Division  of  Time.  —  Reading  by  Sound.  — 
Description  of  the  Sounder.  —  Repeaters,  or  Transferrers.  —  Switches, 
Thumb-Screws,  Screw-Cups,  etc.  —  The  Manipulator.  —  Galvanometer 
attached  to  an  Electro-Magnet 73 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  NEEDLE  SYSTEM. 

The  Multiplier.  —  The  Alphabet.  —  The  Needle.  — The  Commutator.— 
The  Alarum.  —  The  Complete  Vocabulary.  —  Mode  of  Corresponding.  .  100 

CHAPTER  VII. 

HOUSE'S  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH. 

Invention  of  the  Instrument.  —  Supposed  Infringement  upon  Morse's.  — 
Comparison  of  Speed  with  other  Systems.  —  Its  Wonderful  Accomplish- 
ments.—  English  Opinions  regarding  it.  —  Its  Introduction  in  1848. — 
Description  of  the  Various  Parts  of  the  Machine.  —  Difficulty  in  Working 
upon  Long  Circuits,  owing  to  the  great  Resistance  of  the  Helices. — 
Operator's  Attachment  for  the  Instrument Ill 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH. 

Mr.  Bain's  Arrival  in  the  United  States.  —  Refused  a  Patent  by  the  Com- 
missioner. —  His  Decision  overruled  by  Judge  Cranch,  and  a  Patent  issued. 

—  Construction  of  Bain  Lines.  —  Morse  Patentees  commence  Suits  for  an 
Injunction.  —  Description  of  the  Bain  Instrument.  —  The   Alphabet  of 
Dots  and   Lines.  —  Electro-Chemical   Decompositions  Instantaneous. — 
Ability  to  work  through   Storms.  —  Bain's  Fast  Method.  —  Bakewell's 
Copying  Telegraph  —  Caselli's  Pantographic  Telegraph.  —  Remarkable 
Telegraphic  Feat 127 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  HUGHES  SYSTEM. 

Combination  of  the  Natural  and  Electro-Magnets.  —  The  Vibrating  Spring 
and  Adjusting  Bar.  —  The  Type- Wheel,  Printing-Cam,  and  Detent.  — 
Neutralization  of  the  Natural  Magnet  by  Electro-Magnetism.  —  Only 
one  Impulse  required  to  make  a  Letter.  —  Small  Amount  of  Electro- 
Motive  Force  required.  —  Ability  to  work  over  Long  Circuits.  —  Working 
both  Ways  over  the  same  Wire  at  the  same  Moment.  .  -  .  ".  .139 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE   AMERICAN  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH,  OR  THE  COMBINATION 

SYSTEM. 

Imperfections  of  the  Hughes  Instruments.  —  Effects  of  Magnetic  Storms 
and  Escapes.  —  Parts  of  House  and  Hughes's  Instruments  combined  with 
Phelps's  Magnetic  Governor.  —  The  Result.  —  Description  of  the  Com- 
bination. —  Rate  of  Speed  of  the  Combination  Instrument.  —  Superiority 
of  Printing  Instruments.  —  Phelps  Patent.  —  Valuable  Auxiliary  devised 
by  Mr.  W.  T.  Eddy.  —  Experiments  in  working  over  Escapes.  .  .  144 

CHAPTER  XL 

HORNE'S  ELECTRO-THERMAL  TELEGRAPH. 

Application  to  the  Telegraph  of  the  Heating  Power  of  the  Electric  Current. 

—  Description  of  the  Apparatus.  —  Farmer  and  Batchelder's  Telegraph. 

—  Zooke  and  Barnes's  Columbian  Telegraph.  —  Its  Introduction  upon  the 
Western  Lines.  —  Injunction  granted  against  it  for  Infringement  upon 
Morse's  Patent.  —  Modification  of  Bain's  Telegraph  by  Henry  J.  Rogers.  156 

CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  DIAL  TELEGRAPHS. 

Description  of  Wheatstone's  Instrument.  —  Br^guet's  Dial  Telegraph.— 
Froment's  Dial  Telegraph.  —  Siemens's  Dial  Telegraph 160 


PART    IV. 

SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Early  Experiments  in  Subterranean  Insulation.  —  Discovery  of  Gutta- 
Percha.  —  Prussian  Subterranean  Lines.  —  English  and  American  Sub- 
terranean Lines.  —  Submarine  Cables.  —  Cables  between  Dover  and 
Calais.  —  Cables  uniting  England  and  Holland.  .  .  .  .  .  .169 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE. 

Lieut.  Maury's  Discovery  of  the  Telegraph  Plateau.  —Its  Regular  Depth. 
The  First  Expedition.  —  Parting  of  the  Cable  and  Return  of  the  Fleet. 

—  Experimental  Trip.  —  Second  Departure  of  the  Fleet.  —  Overtaken  by 
a  Fearful  Storm.  —  The  Vessels  finally  arrive  at  their  Appointed  Rendez- 
vous. _  Parting  of  the  Cable.  —  The  Ships  again  meet  and  pay  out  Forty 
Miles,  when  the  Current  ceases.  —  Vessels  meet  for  the  Third  Time,  and 
start  afresh.  —  Having  paid  out  over  Three  Hundred  Miles  with  most 
sanguine  Anticipations  of  Success,  the  Announcement  is  made  that  the 
Electric  Current  had  again  ceased.  —  The  Fleet  then  returns  to  Queens- 
town.  —  Saturday,  July  17th,  the  Fleet  again  got  under  weigh,  bound  to 
the  Mid-Ocean  Rendezvous.  —  Arrived  on  the  28th.  —  Splice  made  29th, 
and  Vessels  separated.  —  The  Machinery  for  paying  out  the  Cable  works 
in  the  most  satisfactory  Manner.  —  On  the  Morning  of  August  7th,  the 
whole  Country  electrified  by  the  Announcement  from  Mr.  Field  that  the 
Cable  was  successfully  laid.  —  First  Public  Despatch.  —  Grand  Illumina- 
tions. —  Poem  upon  the  Atlantic  Cable.  —  Experiments  regarding  Passage 
of  Electric  Currents  through  Long  Submarine  Conductors.  —  Cost  of  the 
Cable.—  Scepticism  regarding   the  Actual   Working  of  the   Cable.— 
Copy  of  every  Message  or  Word  of  Conversation  which  passed  through 
the  Cable  from  the  Commencement  of  its  Operations  until  it  ceased  to 
work.  —  Summary  of  Messages  transmitted.  —  Manufacture  of  the  Cable. 

—  Culpable  Negligence  of  the  Manufacturers.  —  Imperfections  found  in  the 
Cable  before  it  was  submerged.  —  Importance  of  Telegraphic  Intercourse 
.with  Europe.— Prospects  for  the  Future.— Present  Condition  of  the  Cable.  179 

PART    Y. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 
CHAPTER   XV. 

Lines  of  Electric  Telegraph  in  the  United  States.  —  Rate  of  Increase.  — 
Amount  of  Annual  Business.  —  European  Telegraphs.  —  Telegraph  still 
in  its  Infancy.  —  Rate  of  Charges  in  Great  Britain.  —  Recent  Improve- 
ments introduced.  —  Electric  Stamps.  —  Celerity  of  Telegraphic  Corre- 
spondence between  England  and  the  Continent.  —  Telegraph  in  Australia. 

—  In  Cuba  and  Mexico.  —  Union  of  India  and  Australia  by  the  Electric 
Wire.  —  Red  Sea  and  India  Telegraph.  —  Telegraph  between  St.  Peters- 
burg and  Pekin.  —  Telegraph  from  Novgorod  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Amoor. 

—  Its  Probable  Extension  via  Bhering's  Strait  to  Russian  and  British 
America,  California,  and  thence  to  the   Atlantic  States.  —  No  Limit  to 
Aerial  Telegraphing.  —  Use  of  Transferrers.  —  New  York  and  New  Orleans 
connected  in  one  Circuit.  —  Instantaneous  Communications  held  over  a 
Distance  of  Three  Thousand  Miles.  —  Operation  of  Subaqueous  Lines.  — 
Retardation  from  Static  Reaction.  —  Faraday  and  Siemens's  Experiments. 

—  Wheatstone's  Experiments   with   Submarine   Cables.  —  Difficulty  in 
working  through  the  Atlantic  Cable  due  to  Retardation  from  Static  Reac- 
tion.—  Thompson's  Marine  Galvanometer.  —  Instrument  used  in  Signal- 
ling through  Atlantic  Cable.  —  Law   determining   Speed  of  Signalling 
through  Submarine  Cables.  —  Siemens  and  Halske's  Submarine  Key.  — 
Cable  from  Falmouth  to  Gibraltar.  —  Thence  to  Malta  and  Alexandria. 

—  Cable  connecting  Kurrachee  with  Aden.  —  Red  Sea  Telegraph.  —  De 
Sauty,  the  Mysterious  Operator.  —  Rude  Treatment  towards  Officers  of 
the  tjnited  States  Coast  Survey.  —  Electric  Telegraphy  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire.  —  Line  from  Constantinople  to  Bagdad.  —  Distinguishing  Feature 
of  the  Telegraphs  used  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Prussia,  and  America. 

—  Various  Systems  in  Use.  —  Rapidity  of  the  Different  Instruments.— 
Superiority  of  American  Instruments.  —  Inferiority  of  American  Lines. 

—  Puck  outdone.  —  Poem  upon  the  Uses  of  the  Telegraph.       .        .        .214 


CONTENTS.  XJ 

PART    VI. 

VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 
CHAPTER  XVI. 

Use  of  the  Electric   Telegraph  upon  Railways.  —  Telegraphic  Arrange- 
ments upon  English  Railroads.  —  The  Telegraph  upon  tne  Erie  Road. 

—  Early  Prejudice  against  it.  —  Immense  Saving  in  Time  and  Money.  — 
Mr.  Tillotson's  Improvements.  —  Popularity  of  the  Telegraph  with  the 
Officers  and  Employees  of  the  Road.  —  Expense  of  Working  the  Lines. 

—  Income  derived  from  them.  —  Number  of  Officers  and  Employees.  — 
The    Electric    Fire-  Alarm.  —  Invention   by   Channing  and  Farmer.  — 
Description  of  its  Modus  Operandi.  —  Alphabet  of  Dots  and  Lines.  — 
Use  of  the  Magneto-Electric  Machine.  —  Superiority  of  this   System. 

—  Analogy  between  the  Organization  of  the  Electric  Fire-  Alarm  and 
that  of  the  Nervous  Organization  of  the  Individual.  —  Uniform  Time 
given  every  Day  at  Noon  by  Telegraph.  —  Tables  showing  the  Number  of 
Alarms  which  have  occurred  each  Hour,  Day,  Week,  Month,  Year,  and 
the  Totals  for  Eight  Years.  —  Diagram  showing  in  what  Hours  of  the 
Day  and  Night  Fires  are  most  or  least  likely  to  occur.  —  Employment  of 
the  Electric  Telegraph  in  Scientific  and  Astronomical  Observations.  — 
Professor  Bond's  Chronograph.  —  Labors  of  Quetelet  and  Leverrier  in 
perfecting  the  Application  of  the  Telegraph  to  Scientific  Observations. 

s.  —  Importance  to  Shipping  In- 
Lines upon  Cape  Cod.         .        .  234 


—  Telegraphing  the  Approach  of  Storms.  —  Importance  to  Shipping  In- 
terests. —  Telegraph  Marine  Reports.  —  Lines  upon  Ca 


PART    VII. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Faulty  Construction  of  Lines.  —  How  Posts  should  be  prepared.  —  French 
Mode  of  preparing  them.  —  Injection  with  Sulphate  of  Copper.  —  The 
Phenomena  of  Induction  and  Conduction.  —  Wire  Conductors.  —  Superi- 
ority of  Zinc-Coated  Lines.  —  Steel  Wires  used  in  crossing  Broad  Rivers. 

—  the  Crossing  at  Caughnewaga.  —  Effect  of  Sulphurous  Vapors  upon 
Telegraph  Lines.  —  Insulation.  —  Imperfection  of  Glass  as  an  Insulator. 

—  Various  Kinds  in  Use.  —  Superiority  of  the  White,  Flint  Insulator.  — 
The   Bone-Rubber  Insulator.  —  Defect  in  Form.  —  Improvements  sug- 
gested. —  Construction  of  Lines  without  Insulation.  —  Cost  of  Construct- 
ing Aerial  Lines.  —  Telegraph  Lines  in  the  United   States,  England, 
France,  Italy,  India.  —  Repairing  Telegraph  Lines.  —  How  to  locate  a 
Break,  etc.  —  English  Subterranean  Lines 257 


PART    VIII. 

ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  UPON  TELEGRAPH  LINES 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ATMOSPHERIC  ELECTRICITY. 

Storms  and  Accompanying  Electrical  Phenomena.  —  Natural  Currents.  — 
Return  Currents. ,  295 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM. 
The  Aurora  Borealis.  —  Working  Telegraph  Lines  with  Auroral  Magnetism.  305 

PART    IX. 

MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 
CHAPTER  XX. 

Discovery  of  the  Intensity  Magnet.  —  Music  by  TelegraphN-  Celerity  of 
Transmission.  —  Secrecy  of  Telegraphic  Communications.  —  Brevity  in 
Despatches.  —  Seeing  me  Elephant.  —  Reading  by  Sound.  —  Reading  by 
Shocks.  — Reading  by  Sight.  —  Reading  by  Taste.  —  Reading  by  Smell. 

—  Spiritual  Interruptions.  —  Practical  Joking  by  Telegraph.  —  Persons 
unqualified  for  Telegraphy.  —  Arrest  of  Fugitives  from  Justice.  —  Web- 
ster's Speeches  improved  by  Telegraph.  —  How  Despatches  should  be 
Written.  —  A  Novel  Meeting.  —  How  Cyrus  laid  the  Cable.  —  The  Opera- 
tor at  Trinity  Bay.  —  House-top  Telegraphs.  —  The  Dot  and  Line  Alpha- 
bet.—New  York  and  Boston  Telegraph  Lines. —  The  Telegraph  as  a 
Detective  Agent.  —  The  Associated  Press  of  the  United  States.  —  Rapid- 
ity of  the  Combination  Instrument.  —  Working  several  Telegraph  Lines 
from  one  Battery 333 

PART    X. 

EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Soemmering's  Telegraph.  —  Robert  Smith's  Electro-Chemical  Telegraph. — 
Ampere's  Telegraph.  —  Steinheil's  Telegraph.  —  Alexander's  Electric 
Telegraph.  —  Vail's  Printing  Telegraph.  —  Sturgeon's  Electro-Magnetic 
Telegraph.  —  Morse's  Magnetic  Telegraph.  —  Woodbury's  Decision  upon 
Morse's  Claims.  —  Dyar's  Electric  Telegraph 390 

PART    XI. 
CHAPTER  XXII. 

GALVANISM. 

Brief  Sketch  of  the  Theories.  —  Determination  of  the  Constant  Voltaic  Bat- 
tery. —  Bunsen's,  Grove's,  DanielPs,  Smee's,  and  Wollaston's  Batteries. 

—  Zinc  and  Iron  Battery.  —  Iron  and  Iron  Battery.  —  Explanation  of 
various  Technical  Terms 432 

INDEX  464 


TKK 

IVERSITY 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  Electric  Telegraph  constitutes  a  true  science,  even  for  the 
subordinate  employes  charged  with  putting  it  in  practice.  The 
operator,  besides  being  able  to  transmit  and  receive  despatches, 
ought  to  possess  a  knowledge  of  the  technical  part  of  his  service, 
to  foresee  natural  phenomena  which  can  influence  transmission, 
and  understand  the  derangements  which  take  place  so  frequently 
upon  posts,  wires,  and  other  apparatus  of  the  line,  determine 
their  causes,  repair  accidents,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  and  fur- 
nish, when  there  is  need,  a  fund  of  general  knowledge  upon  the 
subject,  to  meet  all  emergencies. 

It  is,  then,  indispensable  that  he  be  initiated  into  the  laws  and 
properties  of  electricity,  that  he  may  render  himself  entirely 
competent  to  comprehend  all  the  laws  respecting  the  transmission 
of  electric  currents,  and  that  he  know  perfectly  all  the  details  of 
construction  of  the  batteries,  instruments,  &c. 

He  ought  besides  to  consider  his  post  a  place  of  observation, 
from  which  he  can  survey  daily  all  the  different  effects  of 
atmospheric  electricity.  He  ought  to  be  in  the  state  of  an 
observer,  an  analyzer,  and  a  register;  in  short,  as  far  as  his 
means  will  allow,  to  advance  the  theory  of  the  branch  of  knowl- 
edge so  little  known,  and  which  is  the  means  of  furnishing  such 
important  results.  He  is  often  called  to  make  meteorological 
observations,  and  to  transmit  their  results  by  the  telegraph.  In 
short,  he  takes  hold  in  the  midst  of  practical  difficulties,  often  ob- 
taining results  from  which  he  is  enabled  to  discover  useful  improve- 
ments, and  contribute  to  the  adoption  of  most  happy  modifications. 

1  A 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

Beside  these  requirements  the  operator  should  possess  a  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  business,  be  a  correct  reader  of  manuscript, 
and  a  careful  transmitter  and  receiver  of  all  despatches  intrusted 
to  him.  He  should  look  upon  his  occupation  as  one  of  the  most 
honorable  and  responsible  character ;  for  the  most  important  and 
weighty  matters  are  confided  to  his  care,  and  not  only  so,  but 
they  are  intrusted  to  him  without  exacting  from  him  any  guar- 
anty that  they  shall  be  faithfully  performed;  thus  reposing  in 
him  more  confidence  than  the  patrons  of  banks  and  other  similar 
institutions  exercise  towards  their  officers;  for  they  require  checks 
and  bonds  as  a  guaranty  against  error  or  mismanagement. 

This  being  the  case,  how  careful  ought  the  managers  of  tele- 
graph lines  to  be  in  the  selection  of  their  employes  ;  and  upon 
their  part,  how  exact  should  the  employes  be  in  their  business 
and  deportment  to  merit  the  confidence  thus  reposed  in  them. 

In  France,  the  chief  electrician  of  the  telegraph  lines  publishes 
at  regular  intervals  a  record  of  telegraphic  observations  which 
are  transmitted  to  him  by  the  operators  from  the  several  stations, 
and  thus  presents,  in  a  few  years,  the  most  valuable  data  upon 
this  interesting  subject. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  the  American  companies  will  yet 
see  the  propriety  of  constituting  a  similar  department, — appoint- 
ing to  the  place  a  thorough  electrician,  whose  observations  upon 
lines  of  so  great  an  extent  could  not  fail  to  prove  of  the  high- 
est importance. 

Many  works  have  appeared  upon  the  Electric  Telegraph,  but 
in  general  they  have  borne  descriptions  of  the  apparatus  too 
meagre  and  insufficient  to  give  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  dif- 
ferent questions  which  present  themselves.  They  have  been 
written,  too,  from  an  outside  point  of  view.  None  of  the  writers 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  practical  operations 
of  the  instruments  which  they  attempt  to  describe,  and  it  is  for 
this  reason-  that  no  operator  can  derive  any  satisfaction  from 
reading  them ;  and  the  public  is  not  really  enlightened  upon  any 
essential  points.  What  the  student  requires  is  facts,  presented  in 
a  lucid  manner,  and  from  a  source  entitled  to  credit. 

We  have  sought,  in  this  work,  to  supply  this  want,  by  presenting 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

with  an  eye  to  practical  application  all  the  laws  of  electricity, — 
its  effects  upon  different  bodies,  —  the  different  systems  of  tele- 
graphic apparatus  which  have  been  devised, —  and  also  to  solve 
all  questions  as  to  priority  of  invention. 

It  is  due  to  the  reader,  as  well  as  to  ourselves,  to  say,  that  we 
have  been  engaged  over  thirteen  years  in  practical  telegraphing. 
During  this  period,  which  dates  back  to  the  very  commencement 
of  telegraphic  operations  in  this  country,  we  have  served  as  a 
practical  operator  upon  the  three  great  systems  of  the  art,  viz. 
the  Morse,  the  House,  and  the  Bain.  We  have,  during  this  long 
period,  lost  no  opportunity  of  informing  ourselves  upon  all  points 
relating  to  this  favorite  science  which  the  discoveries  in  this 
country  and  Europe  have  presented.  We  have  also  been  a  close 
observer  of  the  phenomena  of  magnetic  storms  and  other  atmos- 
pheric disturbances,  which  we  have  from  time  to  time  made 
public  through  the  daily  journals,  but  which  are  now  for  the  first 
time  brought  together  in  a  connected  and  permanent  manner. 
We  allude,  in  this  connection,  to  the  chapters  upon  Electrical 
Disturbances  and  the  Aurora  Borealis,  which,  we  believe,  will 
prove  highly  interesting  to  the  man  of  science  as  well  as  the 
general  reader. 

Although  the  main  part  of  this  work  is  devoted  to  our  own 
observations,  and  to  the  history  and  description  of  the  several 
systems  of  telegraphy  which  are,  or  have  been,  operated  in  this 
country,  still  we  have  endeavored  to  present  an  accurate  descrip- 
tion of  the  systems  in  use  in  Europe,  and  to  present  the  latest 
and  most  approved  theories  of  the  savans  of  Europe,  as  well  as 
of  our  own  country,  upon  the  various  phenomena  connected  with 
dynamic  and  static  electricity. 

In  order  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  placing  notes  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pages,  in  giving  our  authorities,  we  have  preferred  to  place 
a  list  of  the  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  work 
at  the  end  of  each  chapter. 

In  the  first  three  chapters  of  this  work  we  detail  the  elemen- 
tary facts  of  the  science  of  electricity,  without  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  comprehend  the  electric  telegraph. 

In  the  fourth  chapter  we  investigate  the  electric  telegraph  from 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

its  most  general  point  of  view,  without  making  any  general  hy- 
pothesis, under  the  form  of  apparatus. 

The  succeeding  half-dozen  chapters  are  devoted  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  instruments  and  other  apparatus  that  are  most  gener- 
ally employed  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  These  will  embrace 
the  history  and  description  of  the  Morse,  House,  Bain,  Hughes, 
and  Combination  systems,  at  present  used  in  the  United  States  ; 
the  Needle  system  of  Messrs.  Cooke  and  Wheatstone,  of  Great 
Britain;  the  Dial  systems  of  MM.  Froment  and  Breguet  of 
France,  and  M.  Siemans  of  Germany;  and  a  brief  description 
of  the  systems  of  Messrs.  Rogers,  Home,  Zooke  and  Barnes, 
Farmer  and  Batchelder,  and  others  which  have  been  devised, 
but  are  not  at  present  operated  in  this  country. 

These  are  succeeded  by  an  examination  into  the  foreign  influ- 
ences which  disturb  the  transmission  of  electric  impulses,  giving 
general  rules  to  be  followed  for  the  discovery  of  the  causes  of 
these  derangements. 

We  next  consider  the  proper  modes  of  constructing  telegraph 
lines;  the  quality  and  size  of  the  wire  most  desirable  for  the 
purpose  ;  the  species  of  wood  best  adapted  for  posts ;  the  proper 
length  of  the  posts  ;  and  a  full  description  of  all  modes  of  insu- 
lating lines,  with  the  results  of  each.  We  also  give  the  cost  of 
constructing  lines  in  the  United  States,  England,  France,  and  Ger- 
many, together  with  the  value  of  the  several  kinds  of  apparatus. 

We  also  give  a  description  of  all  the  submarine  and  subterra- 
nean lines  which  have  ever  been  laid  down ;  their  cost  per  mile, 
and  the  length  of  time  during  which  they  have  been  in  use, 
together  with  a  full  revision  of  all  the  experiments  made  in 
Europe  and  this  country  in  regard  to  static  induction  from  electric 
currents  passing  through  long  insulated  conductors,  and  of  other 
interesting  phenomena  whicli  have  been  developed  by  submarine 
and  subterranean  telegraphy. 

We  also  give  a  history  and  description  of  the  laying  and 
working  of  the  Atlantic  Cable,  with  several  poetical  contributions 
upon  the  subject  from  Dr.  Holmes,  John  G.  Saxe,  Esq.,  and  others. 

The  progress  of  the  electric  telegraph  in  all  quarters  of  the 
world  is  given,  with  a  brief  description  of  the  mode  of  conducting 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

the  business  in  each  country,  together  with  a  description  of  the 
apparatus  used  in  working  through  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

The  different  applications  of  the  electric  telegraph  are  de- 
tailed, with  a  description  of  the  Fire  Alarm  Telegraphs  of  Bos- 
ton, St.  Louis,  and  New  Orleans,,  and  the  use  of  the  telegraph 
for  strictly  scientific  observations. 

One  chapter  is  devoted  to  miscellaneous  matters,  —  mistakes 
of  the  telegraph,  humorous  anecdotes,  reading  by  sound,  read- 
ing by  shocks,  reading  bysig  lit,  reading  by  taste,  reading  by  smell, 
music  by  telegraph,  and  a  meeting  of  telegraph  operators,  with 
a  chairman  at  Boston  and  secretaries  in  Portland  and  New 
York,  while  speeches  are  made  all  over  the  country,  and  listened 
to  with  the  gravest  interest. 

We  have  presented  in  chronological  order,  in  one  chapter  of 
this  work,  the  discoveries  in  electro-dynamics  previous  to  Morse's 
invention,  commencing  with  the  experiment  of  Le  Mounier  in  the 
garden  of  the  Tuileries  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
down  to  the  latest  improvements  by  Ampere,  Henry,  Gauss  and 
Weber,  Steinheil,  Daniell,  Wheatstone,  and  other  philosophers,  to 
whom  the  world  is  indebted  for  the  knowledge  which  enables  us 
to  send  communications,  by  means  of  the  mysterious  fluid,  with 
the  quickness  of  thought,  and  to  annihilate  time  as  well  as  space. 

These  facts  were  elicited  during  the  suit  for  an  injunction 
brought  by  the  Morse  patentees  against  the  House  Telegraph 
Company,  in  1850,  before  Judge  Woodbury  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  and  present  a  reliable  and  interesting  resume  of 
the  whole  subject.  They  were  printed  for  the  convenience  of 
the  Court,  but  have  never  before  been  published. 

The  concluding  chapter  is  devoted  to  a  full  consideration  and 
resume,  of  the  important  subject  of  Galvanism,  —  the  value  of 
each  kind  of  battery  in  use,  together  with  its  electro-motive  force 
and  adaptedness  to  electric  telegraphy.  This  will  be  found  of 
very  great  importance  in  estimating  the  amount  of  battery  power 
required  of  any  particular  kind  for  any  length  of  circuit. 

The  first  electric  telegraph  appears  to  have  been  made  about 
the  year  1786  ;  though  long  before  that  time  the  vague  idea  of  a 
magical  magnetic  telegraph  was  entertained.  Strada,  a  Jesuit 
1* 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

priest,  in  a  curious  book,  published  in  1649,  describes  a  fabled 
contrivance  of  two  magnetic  needles,  attached  to  dials,  bearing  a 
a  circle  of  letters,  and  which  possessed  the  property  of  always 
indicating  the  same  letter ;  so  that  when  one  needle  was  made 
to  point  to  any  particular  letter,  the  other  needle,  however  distant 
at  the  time,  placed  itself  so  as  to  point  to  the  same  letter. 

In  1774,  George  Louis  Lesage,  a  philosopher  of  French  origin 
at  Geneva,  constructed  an  apparatus  composed  of  twenty-four 
wires,  corresponding  to  the  twenty-four  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  insulators.  To  the  extremity  of 
each  one  of  these  wires  a  pith-ball  was  suspended  by  a  silk 
thread.  By  touching  the  wires  with  an  electrical  machine,  the 
other  extremity  of  the  conductors  —  the  pith-ball  —  would  be 
repulsed,  and  thus  make  known  the  letter  indicated. 

In  1793,  Claude  Chappe,  after  much  labor  and  research,  estab- 
lished between  Paris  and  Lille  the  first  line  of  aerial  telegraph ; 
and  this  happy  result  established  the  success  of  the  system. 

Before  this  epoch,  several  philosophers  proposed  to  employ 
electricity  in  the  transmission  of  despatches,  upon  their  knowledge 
of  the  phenomena  of  static  electricity,  and  from  their  having 
observed  its  prodigious  rapidity. 

The  Electric  Telegraph,  like  all  great  inventions,  was  not  the 
work  of  a  single  mind.  It  has  followed  science  in  different 
developments,  and  could  not  have  passed  the  domain  of  science 
into  application,  except  the  laws  and  principles  of  electricity 
were  known,  —  which  inspired  new  efforts  that  were  to  be 
crowned  by  a  complete  success. 

From  1780  to  1800,  Reiser  of  Germany,  and  Salva  and  Be- 
thancourt  of  Spain,  tried  some  similar  systems.  Static  electricity  is, 
however,  a  production  so  volatile,  and  its  insulation  so  difficult,  that 
the  problem  of  the  electric  telegraph  could  be  considered  only  as  a 
scientific  conception  without  the  discovery  of  dynamic  electricity. 

In  1800,  the  curious  discoveries  of  Galvani  conducted  Volta 
to  the  discovery  of  electric  currents,  and  their  chemical  and  phys- 
iological properties.  A  new  era  opened  for  the  science,  and  per- 
mitted a  substitute  of  permanent  supply  of  electricity  in  place 
of  the  electrical  machine  and  the  Leyden  jar. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

Dr.  Coxe,  an  American,  about  the  same  time,  proposed  a  tele- 
graph, the  principle  of  which  consisted  in  the  decomposition  of 
chemicals  by  the  electric  current. 

Mr.  Francis  Ronalds,  in  1816,  constructed  a  telegraph,  by 
which  he  was  able  to  send  signals  with  considerable  facility  and 
rapidity  through  a  distance  of  eight  miles.  His  plan  was  very 
simple.  At  either  end 
of  the  wire  was  a  clock 
carrying  a  light  paper 
disc,  on  which  were 
marked  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet,  and  cer- 
tain words  and  num- 
bers. By  means  of  a 
perforated  cover  (Fig. 
1),  only  one  letter  was 
seen  at  a  time.  As 
the  clocks  run  togeth- 
er, of  course  the  same  letter  would  be  visible  at  the  same  time  ; 
and  if  an  electric  discharge  were  sent  from  one  station  to  another 
when  -  a  particular  letter  was  exhibited  on  the  dial,  the  observer 
at  the  other  end  would  readily  know  the  signal  intended. 

Harrison  Gray  Dyar,  an  American,  constructed  a  telegraph,  in 
1828,  at  the  race-course  on  Long  Island,  and  supported  his  wires 
by  glass  insulators,  fixed  on  trees  and  poles.  By  means  of  com- 
mon electricity  acting  on  litmus-paper,  he  produced  a  red  mark, 
and  then  passed  the  current  through  the  ground  as  a  return 
circuit.  The  difference  of  time  between  the  sparks  indicated 
different  letters  arranged  in  an  arbitrary  alphabet,  and  the  paper 
was  moved  by  the  hand.  Owing  to  the  use  of  frictional  elec- 
tricity, which  is  too  easily  dissipated,  and  difficult  of  being  con- 
fined to  conductors,  this  telegraph  could  not  have  been  of  any 
practical  use  ;  although,  had  Mr.  Dyar  not  been  prevented, 
through  fear  of  prosecution  on  a  charge  of  conspiracy  to  send 
secret  communications  in  advance  of  the  mail,  from  prosecuting 
his  discovery,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  achieved  great  suc- 
cess, as  his  system  possessed  many  of  the  principles  and  features 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  Morse  invention.  This  matter  will  be  fully  discussed 
hereafter. 

The  discovery  of  the  magnetization  of  soft  iron  under  the  influ- 
ence of  currents  of  induction,  is  due  to  Arago  and  Faraday  ;  but 
the  development  of  the  motor  function  of  electricity,  or  of  the 
means  by  which  electro-magnetic  power  can  be  exerted  at  a  dis- 
tance, is  due  to  the  early  experiments  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  Professor  Henry,  whose  discoveries  in 
electro-magnetism,  and  especially  of  the  quantity  and  intensity  of 
the  magnet,  in  1830,  laid  the  foundation  for  all  subsequent  forms 
of  electro-magnetic  telegraphs,  and  made  succeeding  steps  com- 
paratively easy.  In  the  publication  of  these  experiments,  the 
induction  of  the  electric  telegraph  as  thenceforth  possible  was  dis- 
tinctly made  by  him ;  and  at  a  period  not  much  later  weights 
were  released  and  bells  rung  by  him  at  a  distance,  by  electric  in- 
fluence transmitted  through  long  conductors. 

The  determination  of  laws  upon  the  intensity  of  currents  is  due 
to  Ohm  and  Pouillet,  and  the  invention  of  the  batteries  which 
generate  the  currents  belongs  to  Becquerel,  Daniell,  Bunsen,  and 
Grove. 

This  completes  the  series  of  necessary  investigations  for  the 
application  of  electricity  to  the  telegraph. 

Among  the  philosophers  who  have  occupied  themselves  with 
this  question,  we  cite  in  order,  up  to  the  time  when  the  system 
was  perfected,  Alexander  of  Edinburgh,  M.  le  Baron  Schilling, 
M.  Vorselmann  de  Heer,  MM.  Gauss  and  Weber,  M.  Amyot, 
MM.  Breguet  and  Masson,  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  Professors 
Henry  and  Coxe,  and  Dr.  Jackson. 

MM.  Gauss  and  Weber,  in  1834,  constructed  a  line  of  tele- 
graph over  the  houses  and  steeples  of  Gottingen.  The  circuit 
contained  about  15,000  feet  of  wire.  They  used  galvanic  elec- 
tricity, and  applied  the  phenomenon  of  magnetic  induction  discov- 
ered by  Professor  Faraday.  The  slow  oscillations  of  magnetic 
bars  caused  by  the  passage  of  currents,  and  observed  through  a 
glass,  furnished  the  signals  for  corresponding.  The  operation 
was  complicated,  slow,  and  inefficient. 

M.  Steinheil  established  at  Munich,  and  worked,  in  1837,  an 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

electric  telegraph  between  two  distant  points.  Up  to  this  time 
the  electric  telegraph  had  been  considered  only  as  a  curious  the- 
oretical science,  without  possible  application,  as,  for  the  most  part, 
the  apparatus  required  separate  wires  for  each  letter  or  signal ; 
but  it  was  not  doubted,  if  the  practical  realization  of  the  idea 
could  be  arrived  at,  that  they  could  reduce  this  number  to  two, 
or  even  to  one,  by  means  of  conventional  combinations. 

There  remained,  however,  still  an  important  question,  which 
experience  alone  could  solve,  —  whether  it  were  possible  to  ob- 
tain upon  a  great  length  of  wire  a  sufficient  insulation  without 
too  great  expense.  The  great  extension  of  the  lines  of  railway, 
in  1838,  and  the  necessity  felt  for- the  means  of  rapid  communi- 
cation, hastened  the  solution  of  this  question. 

The  first  electric  telegraph  established  in  Europe  for  the  actual 
transmission  of  despatches  between  distant  points,  was  between 
London  and  Birmingham,  in  1838,  by  Professor  Wheatstone. 
Shortly  after,  lines  were  constructed  by  simply  suspending  the 
wires  upon  porcelain  supports,  when  sufficient  intensity  was  ob- 
tained to  work  the  apparatus  to  a  great  distance. 

The  first  line  in  France  was  constructed,  in  1844,  between 
Paris  and  Rouen,  along  the  line  of  the  railway.  The  lines  be- 
tween Paris  and  Orleans,  and  Paris  and  Lille,  were  constructed 
in  the  years  1847  and  1848.  Shortly  after,  lines  were  con- 
structed along  the  several  lines  of  railway  throughout  France. 

The  first  line  constructed  in  the  United  States  was  put  in  op- 
eration in  the  month  of  June,  1844,  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore.  The  next  year  it  was  continued  to  New  York  and 
Boston,  and  in  1846  to  Buffalo  and  Harrisburg.  The  succeeding 
year  a  line  was  constructed  between  Buffalo  and  Montreal,  and 
during  the  same  season  between  Boston  and  Portland.  The  next 
year,  1848,  found  the  entire  country  excited  upon  the  subject  of 
the  telegraph,  and  lines  were  projected  and  constructed  in  every 
direction. 


PART    I. 

PEELIMINAKY    NOTIONS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ELECTRICAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 

BY  the  friction  of  two  bodies  of  different  natures,  they  acquire 
a  remarkable  quality  of  attracting  light  substances,  such  as  small 
fragments  of  paper,  small  balls  of  elder-pith,  feathers,  &c.,  when 
placed  in  their  vicinity.  This  attraction  occurs  at  a  distance; 
and  the  substances  upon  which  it  is  exercised  adhere  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  rubbed  body  by  which  they  are  attracted ;  or  rather 
are  alternately  repelled  and  attracted  by  this  body.  In  order  to 
explain  these  singular  phenomena,  we  admit  that  the  friction 
of  two  bodies  develops  upon  each  a  peculiar  fluid,  which  we 
designate  by  the  name  of  electricity.  This  name,  electricity,  is 
derived  from  the  Greek  word  rj\€Krpov,  signifying  amber,  the  first 
substance,  it  is  said,  upon  which  electrical  properties  were  ob- 
served. These  two  invisible  fluids,  imponderable,  escape  our 
means  of  observation.  Their  presence  can  only  be  known  by 
the  effects  which  they  produce.  The  one  of  the  fluids  we  call 
positive,  or  vitreous  electricity ;  the  other,  negative,  or  resinous. 
The  particles  of  the  same  fluid  repel  themselves,  and  attract 
those  of  the  other  fluid.  This  force  of  attraction  and  repulsion 
augments  or  increases  with  the  friction  of  the  particles. 

A  stick  of  glass,  rubbed  with  a  piece  of  cloth,  charges  itself 
with  the  positive  fluid.  A  stick  of  resin  rubbed  in  the  same 
manner  charges  itself  with  the  negative.  It  is  this  which  gives 
name  to  the  two  electricities,  vitreous  and  resinous. 


12  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

This  idea  of  two  different  fluids  is  purely  hypothetical,  but  it 
explains  sufficiently  well  the  phenomena,  and  remains  in  the  lan- 
guage as  a  simple  means  of  exhibiting  all  the  facts  which  pre- 
sent themselves  in  the  study  of  electricity. 

A  metallic  conductor  in  contact  with  an  electrized  body 
charges  itself  instantly  in  all  its  parts  with  electricity,  whilst  a 
stick  of  glass  or  of  resin  placed  in  the  same  condition  electrizes 
only  the  point  in  contact. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  electricity  propagates  itself  easily  upon 
certain  bodies,  which  we  call  conductors,  and  with  difficulty  upon 
others,  which  we  call  non-conductors  or  insulators. 

Mercury  and  metals  are  very  good  conductors.  Glass,  resin, 
bone,  rubber,  gutta-percha,  dry  air,  and  silk  are  bad  conductors, 
or  insulators.  Between  these  two  categories  of  bodies  there  are 
other  matters,  such  as  steam,  vapor,  charcoal,  &c.,  which  are 
medium  conductors.  We  can,  then,  classify  all  substances  by 
placing  them  in  order  according  to  their  conductibility.  The 
metals  would  then  occupy  the  first  rank,  and  glass  and  resin  the 
last. 

The  metals  are  almost  perfect  conductors,  but  they  present 
differences  among  themselves  relatively  to  their  degree  of  conduc- 
tibility ;  and  the  same  metal  conducts  better,  or  worse,  according 
to  its  dimensions  and  its  temperature.  Resinous  substances,  vit- 
reous substances,  silk,  oils,  bone,  rubber,  gutta-percha,  are  sub- 
stances that  insulate  very  well,  but  not  all  to  the  same  degree ; 
thus,  a  very  fine  filament  of  gum-lac  insulates  better  than  a  fila- 
ment of  silk  or  glass  of  the  same  diameter.  Gum-lac  and  the 
resins  insulate  better,  as  they  are  drawn  into  finer  filaments ;  it 
is  the  reverse  with  glass,  which,  when  drawn  into  fine  threads, 
becomes  a  tolerably  good  conductor.  Wood,  pure  water,  the 
human  body,  a  great  number  of  minerals,  conduct  imperfectly ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  conduct  powerful  electricity  well,  but  feeble 
electricity  not  so  well,  and  sometimes  not  at  all. 

The  conducting  property  of  bodies  appears  to  depend  essen- 
tially on  their  chemical  nature  ;  thus  we  see  all  the  metals  are 
good  conductors,  while  all  hydrogenated  substances  are  bad  con- 
ductors. However,  in  many  cases  the  physical  constitution  also 


ELECTRICAL  MANIFESTATIONS.  13 

exercises  an  influence  upon  conductibility :  ice  does  not  conduct, 
while  water  does  conduct ;  tallow  and  wax  become  conductors 
only  when  they  are  melted,  and  it  is  the  same  with  several  salts. 
Glass  is  a  good  conductor  when  heated  to  redness.  Diamond  is 
a  perfect  insulator,  whilst  mineral  carbon  is  a  good  conductor,  if 
it  has  been  strongly  heated.  Carbon  in  general  conducts  better 
or  worse  according  to  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  prepared, 
and  according  as  it  has  been  more  or  less  baked.  Air  and  gases 
are  less  insulating  as  they  are  more  rarefied,  which  is  the  same 
as  saying  that  vacuum  is  a  good  conductor  of  electricity. 

Finally,  there  is  one  circumstance,  independent  of  the  chemical 
nature  and  the  physical  constitution  of  bodies,  which  renders 
them  better  or  worse  conductors ;  it  is  their  degree  of  affinity  for 
the  humidity  of  the  air.  "We  have  already  seen  that  moist  air 
and  gases  cease  to  be  insulators.  Glass,  which  is  of  itself  a  good 
insulator,  easily  becomes  a  conductor  as  soon  as  it  is  exposed  to 
humidity ;  it  attracts  to  its  surface  the  aqueous  vapors  of  the 
atmosphere ;  they  form  there  a  thin  film  of  water,  by  which  the 
electricity  passes  away.  Thus,  in  order  that  glass  rods  shall  well 
insulate  the  electricity  accumulated  upon  the  conductors  to  which 
they  serve  as  supports,  care  is  taken  to  cover  them  with  a  thin 
coat  of  varnish,  made  with  gum-lac  dissolved  in  alcohol,  —  a  coat- 
ing which  protects  the  surface  of  the  glass  against  the  deposition 
of  moisture,  and  which  at  the  same  time  insulates  itself  very  well. 

It  is  probably  to  the  hygrometric  property  of  glass  that  we 
must  attribute  the  conducting  faculty  which  it  acquires  on  being 
drawn  out  into  thin  filaments,  because  it  then  presents  more 
surface  to  the  moist  air. 

The  following  is  an  approximative  table  of  the  conducting  and 
insulating  faculty  of  different  bodies.  This  table  contains  in  one 
column  the  conducting  bodies,  placed  in  the  order  of  their  con- 
ductibility,  beginning  with  the  best  conductors;  and  in  the 
second,  the  insulating  bodies,  placed  in  the  order  of  their  insu- 
lating faculty,  beginning  with  the  poorest  insulators.  There- 
fore the  second  column  may  be  regarded  as  a  continuation  of 
the  first. 


14 


PKELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


CONDUCTING  BODIES. 
Silver. 
Copper. 
Gold. 
Mercury. 
Cadmium. 
Zinc. 
Tin. 
Iron. 
Lead. 
Platinum. 
All  other  metals. 
Well-burnt  carbon. 
Plumbago. 
Concentrated  acids. 
Dilute  acids. 
Saline  solutions. 
Metallic  ores. 
Animal  fluids. 
Sea-water. 
Spring-water. 
Rain-water. 
Ice  above  13°  Fahr. 
Snow. 

Living  vegetables. 
Living  animals. 
Flame. 
Smoke. 
Vapor. 

Salts,  soluble  in  water. 
Rarefied  air. 
The  vapor  of  alcohol. 
The  vapor  of  ether. 
Earths  and  moist  rocks. 
Powdered  glass. 
Flowers  of  sulphur. 


INSULATING  BODIES. 

Dry  metallic  oxides. 

Oils  :  the  heaviest  are  the  best. 

Ashes  of  vegetable  bodies. 

Ashes  of  animal  bodies. 

Many  dry  transparent  crystals. 

Ice  below  13°  Fahr. 

Phosphorus. 

Lime. 

Dry  chalk. 

Native  carbonate  of  baryta. 

Lycopodium. 

Caoutchouc. 

Camphor. 

Some  siliceous  and  argillaceous  stones. 

Dry  marble. 

Porcelain. 

Dry  vegetable  bodies. 

Wood  that  has  been  strongly  heated. 

Dry  gases  and  air. 

Leather. 

Parchment. 

Dry  paper. 

Feathers. 

Hair,  wool. 

Dyed  silk. 

Raw  silk. 

Transparent  precious  stones. 

The  diamond. 

Mica. 

All  vitrefactions. 

Glass. 

Jet. 

Wax. 

Sulphur. 

The  resins. 

Amber. 

Gutta-percha. 


ELECTRICAL  MANIFESTATIONS.  15 

All  bodies,  therefore,  are  capable  of  becoming  electrical  by- 
friction  ;  but  they  differ  among  themselves  with  regard  to  the 
faculty  they  possess  of  transmitting  electricity.  Some  transmit 
it  promptly  and  freely ;  others  more  slowly  and  with  difficulty ; 
while  others  still  seem  almost  incapable  of  transmitting  it. 
However,  they  are  all  susceptible  of  taking  electricity  from  an 
electrized  body  with  which  they  are  touched  ;  only  if  the  touched 
body  is  an  insulator,  it  takes  electricity  on  that  part  of  its  surface 
alone  which  has  been  touched  ;  whilst,  if  it  is  a  conductor,  it  ac- 
quires it  throughout  its  whole  extent,  although  it  has  received  it 
only  upon  one  point.  This  is  a  means  of  electrizing  which  is 
termed  to  electrize  by  communion. 

If  the  electrized  body  is  an  insulator,  it  gives  the  electricity  it 
possesses  to  the  conducting  body  that  touches  it  only  at  the  point 
in  which  the  contact  takes  place ;  but  if  it  is  a  conductor,  there 
occurs  a  division  of  its  electricity  between  itself  and  the  touched 
body,  —  a  division  which  is  subject  to  a  very  simple  law,  namely, 
that  each  of  the  two  bodies  which  we  necessarily  suppose  insu- 
lated takes  a  part  of  the  total  electricity  proportional  to  its  own 
surface. 

If  we  bring  into  contact  two  conductors  of  the  same  size, 
charged  with  different  kinds  of  electricities  of  equal  quantities, 
these  two  electricities  of  which  the  particles  are  possessed  unite, 
and  all  trace  disappears  upon  the  two  conductors.  This  experi- 
ment goes  to  prove  that  all  bodies  in  nature  possess  in  equal 
quantities  both  kinds  of  electricity,  the  union  of  which  produces  a 
fluid  without  action,  or  neutral ;  and  that  friction  does  not  liberate 
the  two  kinds  of  electricity,  but  only  separates  them. 

The  quantity  of  neutral  fluid  which  a  body  contains  cannot  be 
determined,  but  all  goes  to  prove  that  it  is  very  great. 

An  electrized  body  that  is  put  in  communication  with  the  earth 
loses  at  once  all  its  electricity.  The  earth  is  designated,  for  this 
reason,  the  common  reservoir,  in  order  to  indicate  that  to  it  is 
carried  the  electricity  of  bodies  placed  in  communication  with  it. 
The  reason  why  it  is  able  to  absorb  the  electricity  of  all  bodies 
brought  into  contact  with  it,  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a 
body  of  such  an  enormous  conducting  surface,  that  all  other  con- 


16  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

ducting  bodies  must  be  infinitely  small  in  comparison  with  it,  and 
therefore  retain,  after  contact,  infinitely  less  electricity,  or  none 
at  all. 

The  neutralization  of  the  two  contrary  electricities,  a  conse- 
quence of  their  attraction,  may  take  place  according  to  different 
modes.  It  may  operate  at  a  distance,  in  the  case  in  which  neither 
of  the  two  balls  is  sufficiently  movable  to  obey  the  attraction  that 
remains  between  them. 

If  we  place  two  metallic  balls  at  the  extremity  of  a  glass  rod,  one 
electrized  vitreously,  or  positively,  the  other  resinously,  or  nega- 
tively, and  then  cause  them  to  approach  each  other,  at  a  distance 
greater  or  less  according  to  the  electric  charge  which  they  pos- 
sess, an  instantaneous  spark  is  seen  to  shine  between  them,  ac- 
companied by  a  slight  snapping;  and  immediately  after,  they 
may  be  proved  to  have  lost  their  electricity,  and  to  be  in  their 
natural  condition. 

This  mode  of  neutralization  can  only  occur  when  the  electrized 
bodies  are  placed  at  an  inconsiderable  distance  apart,  —  a  dis- 
tance that  must  vary  with  the  intensity  of  the  electricity  with 
which  they  are  charged,  and  the  condition  of  the  air  compressed 
between  them.  But  whatever  the  distance,  the  contrary  elec- 
tricities may  be  neutralized,  on  making  communication  between 
the  two  balls,  by  means  of  an  insulated  conductor,  such  as  a  metal 
branch,  held  by  an  insulating  handle. 

Static  and  Dynamic  State  of  Electricity. 

When  the  neutralization  is  brought  about,  either  through  the 
air  with  a  spark,  or  through  a  conductor,  the  electricity  is  said  to 
be  in  the  dynamic  state  for  the  instant  that  this  neutralization 
lasts.  This  denomination  of  dynamic  is  given  to  the  state  of 
movement  in  which  the  two  electricities  are  supposed  to  be  found 
when  they  are  travelling  towards  each  other  to  neutralize  each 
other,  in  opposition  to  the  static  state,  or  that  of  rest,  in  which 
these  two  electricities  are  found  when  they  are  separately  accumu- 
lated on  insulated  bodies.  The  latter  state  is  also  named  electric 
tension  ;  the  former,  electric  discharge. 


ELECTRICAL  MANIFESTATIONS.  17 

The  dynamic  state  may  be  instantaneous  or  continuous.  It  is 
instantaneous  in  the  preceding  case,  in  which  the  two  electrized 
metallic  balls  are  insulated,  and  consequently  acquire  no  more 
electricity  after  that  which  they  possess  has  once  become  neutral- 
ized. But  suppose  one  of  the  balls  to  be  in  communication  with 
a  constant  source  of  positive  electricity,  and  the  other  with  an 
equally  constant  source  of  negative  electricity,  the  two  electrici- 
ties being  constantly  renewed  in  proportion  as  they  are  neutral- 
ized, there  will  be  through  this  conductor  an  uninterrupted 
neutralization,  or  a  continued  reunion  of  the  two  electricities ;  this 
is  what  is  termed  the  continuous  dynamic  state,  or  electric  current. 
We  then  say  that  the  conducting  body,  which  serves  to  establish 
a  communication  between  the  two  balls,  is  traversed  by  an  elec- 
tric current. 

Bodies  that  serve  for  the  passage  of  electricity,  where  it  is  in 
either  the  instantaneous  or  the  continuous  dynamic  state,  under- 
go, by  the  effect  of  this  passage,  certain  modifications,  some  tem- 
porary, others  permanent,  which  are  extremely  remarkable.  If  it 
is  a  very  fine  metallic  wire,  and  of  no  great  length,  which  serves 
to  transmit  the  dynamic  electricity,  this  wire  is  heated,  becomes 
incandescent,  and  may  even  melt,  if  the  electricities  whose  re- 
union it  is  bringing  about  have  great  intensity.  If  the  body 
through  which  the  transmission  occurs  is  water,  this  water  is  in 
part  decomposed ;  and  its  two  constituent  gases,  namely,  oxygen 
and  hydrogen,  are  seen  to  be  set  free.  But  this  effect  is  mani- 
fested in  a  more  marked  degree  when  the  dynamic  state  is  con- 
tinuous ;  that  of  heating  occurs  equally  whether  the  dynamic  state 
be  instantaneous  or  continuous. 

Theories  on  the  Nature  of  Electricity. 

The  theory  most  generally  admitted  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge  consists  in  regarding  each  of  the  two  electricities,  both 
the  vitreous  and  the  resinous,  as  excessively  subtile  and  imponder- 
able fluids,  each  composed  of  particles  that  mutually  repel  each 
.other ;  they  arrange  themselves  on  the  surface  of  bodies,  where 
they  remain,  because  they  meet  the  air,  which,  being  an  insulat- 
ing body,  does-  not  permit  them  to  go  further.  In  non-conducting 


18  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

bodies  the  two  fluids  are  constrained  in  their  movements,  which 
we  attribute  to  their  being  retained  by  the  particles  of  these 
bodies.  When  the  two  fluids  unite,  by  virtue  of  their  mutual 
attraction,  they  are  neutralized,  and  form  neutral  fluid,  or  natural 
electricity,  the  action  of  which  is  not  sensible,  because  the  effect 
of  the  two  contrary  fluids  is  counterbalanced.  It  is  admitted  that 
every  body  contains  natural  electricity:  hence  to  electrize  a 
body  is  to  decompose  this  electricity ;  one  of  the  parts,  or  one 
of  the  principles,  of  which  remains  in  excess  on  the  rubbing  body. 
This  is  called  Symmer's  two-fluid  theory. 

Franklin's  theory  consists  in  admitting  but  one  single  impon- 
derable electric  fluid,  very  subtile,  and  all  the  particles  of  which 
mutually  repel  each  other.  Each  body  has  a  determinate  capacity 
for  this  fluid.  When  it  contains  as  much  as  it  ought  naturally  to 
have,  the  body  is  in  the  natural  electric  state.  To  electrize  a 
body  vitreously,  is  to  give  it  more  electricity  than  it  naturally 
contains ;  it  is  then  in  the  positive  electric  state :  to  electrize  a 
body  resinously  is  to  deprive  it  of  a  portion  of  its  natural  elec- 
tricity ;  it  is  then  in  the  negative  electric  state.  We  have  seen 
that  these  denominations  of  positive  and  negative  electricity, 
which  follow  from  Franklin's  theory,  may  be  justified  by  con- 
siderations altogether  independent  of  every  hypothetical  view, 
and  based  simply  on  facts. 

We  shall  not  here  discuss  the  comparative  merit  of  these  two 
theories;  the  latter,  at  least  in  such  sort  as  Franklin  has  for- 
mularized  it,  cannot  be  admitted.  The  former,  although  sub- 
ject to  strong  objections,  is,  in  the  present  state  of  the  science, 
a  very  convenient  and  tolerably  exact  manner  of  representing  to 
ourselves  this  agent  which  we  term  electricity ;  it  is  under  this 
point  of  view  that  we  shall  adopt  it.  However,  we  may  for  the 
present  say  it  is  very  probable  that  electricity,  instead  of  consist- 
ing of  one  or  of  two  special  fluids  sui  generis,  is  nothing  more  than 
the  result  of  a  particular  modification  in  the  state  of  bodies.  This 
modification  probably  depends  on  the  mutual  action  exercised  on 
each  other  by  the  ponderable  particles  of  matter,  and  the  subtile 
fluid  that  surrounds  them  on  every  side,  —  a  fluid  that  is  gen- 
erally designated  by  the  name  of  ether,  and  the  .undulations  of 
which  constitute  light  and  heat. 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


19 


CHAPTER    II. 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 

ALL  bodies  may  be  considered  as  composed  of  an  infinite 
number  of  particles  closely  united ;  it  results  from  this,  that  the 
electric  current  upon  the  conductor  does  not  flow  over  it  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  that  of  a  liquid  in  a  tube,  but  by  a  series  of 
successive  decompositions  and  recompositions  of  the  neutral  fluid 
in  the  different 
particles. 

Many  kinds  of 
apparatus  have 
been  construct- 
ed upon  the  pre- 
ceding princi- 
ples, but  we  shall 
limit  ourselves 
to  a  description 
of  the  electric 
machine. 

An  electrical 
machine  (Fig. 
2)  consists  of 
a  circular  glass 
plate,  from  one 
twelfth  to  one 
eighth  of  an  inch 
in  thickness,  and 
the  diameter  of 
which  is  equally 
various :  being 
generally  about 
two  feet.  The 


20  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

plate  is  traversed  at  its  centre  by  a  metal  axis,  fixed  firmly  to 
the  glass  by  means  of  two  ferules ;  this  axis  rests  upon  two 
wooden  supports,  fixed  vertically  at  the  end  of  a  solid  table,  and 
is  so  placed  that  the  glass  plate  is  situated  between  the  two  sup- 
ports, and  at  an  equal  distance  from  either.  A  handle  fixed  to 
the  extremity  of  the  axis  that  is  situated  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
table  serves  to  give  a  rotary  movement  to  the  plate.  The 
greater  portion  of  this  handle  is  commonly  of  glass,  so  that  the 
electricity  of  the  part  of  the  plate  nearest  to  the  axis  may  not  be 
conducted  into  the  ground  by  the  hand  and  body  of  the  person 
who  is  working  the  machine.  Two  pairs  of-  horse-hair  cushions 
covered  with  leather  are  placed,  one  in  the  upper  part,  the  other 
in  the  lower  part  of  each  of  the  two  vertical  supports.  These 
cushions  are  so  arranged  that  each  portion  of  the  plate  is  made 
to  pass  successively  between  them,  first  above,  then  below,  by 
means  of  the  rotary  movement.  It  is  also  necessary  that  the 
cushions  be  sufficiently  near  together,  and  sufficiently  elastic,  to 
exercise  a  strong  pressure  against  the  plate  ;  this  produces  a  fric- 
tion that  electrizes  the  glass.  The  cushions  are  four  or  five  inches 
wide,  and  are  as  long  as  possible  ;  always,  however,  leaving  a  suf- 
ficient interval  between  their  extremities  and  the  metal  ferules 
by  which  the  axis  of  the  plate  is  fixed. 

In  order  to  render  the  liberation  of  electricity  more  consider- 
able, the  surface  of  the  leather  of  the  cushion  must  be  covered 
with  an  amalgam  of  zinc  or  a  coat  of  mosaic  gold  (deuto-sul- 
phuret  of  tin).  The  vitreous  electricity  that  is  acquired  by  the 
glass  plate  from  the  effect  of  friction  is  collected  by  cylindrical  con- 
ductors of  brass,  which  are  placed  horizontally  on  vertical  glass 
stems,  themselves  fixed  on  the  table,  at  one  of  the  extremities  of 
which  the  supports  are  placed  by  which  the  glass  plate  and  the 
cushions  are  sustained. 

We  have  seen  above  how  electricity  is  obtained  by  friction,  but 
it  is  not  the  only  mode  of  producing  this  development :  there  exist 
others ;  in  particular,  elevation  of  temperature,  and  also  the 
chemical  action  of  one  body  upon  another. 

We  shall  confine  ourselves  here  to  a  brief  description  of  the 
Voltaic  Pile,  an  apparatus  in  which  electricity  is  developed, 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


21 


according  to  some  by  the  contact  of  two  metals  of  a  different 
nature,  and  according  to  others  by  the  chemical  action  of  the 
liquids  with  which  it  is  charged 
upon  one  of  the  two  metals 
that  enter  into  its  formation. 
The  pile  devised  by  Volta 
owed  its  origin  to  the  inter- 
pretation which  this  celebrated 
philosopher  gave  to  a  remark- 
able experiment  made  by  Gal- 
vani ;  namely,  that  a  frog  un- 
dergoes a  violent  commotion 
when  one  of  its  nerves,  being 
exposed,  is  touched  with  one 
metal,  and  its  muscles  with 
another  metal,  the  two  metals 
being  themselves  in  close  con- 
tact in  one  or  more  points 
of  their  surface.  This  effect, 
which  is  due  to  a  liberation  of 
electricity,  has  caused  the  elec- 
tricity thus  liberated  to  be 
called  galvanic,  and  the  part 
of  physical  science  concerned 
in  it  to  be  called  galvanism;  but  the  name  Voltaic  must  re- 
main to  the  pile,  since  it  truly  originated  with  Volta. 

The  form  first  given  by  Volta  to  the  pile  is  that  of  a  ver- 
tical column,  formed  of  discs  of  copper  and  zinc,  from  1£  to 
2£  inches  in  diameter,  arranged  as  follows.  The  base  of  the 
column  is  a  copper  disc,  upon  which  is  placed  a  zinc  disc ;  the 
composition  of  these  two  superposed  discs  forms  a  pair.  Over  this 
first  pair  a  second  similar  pair  is  placed,  care  being  taken  that 
the  copper  is  always  below  the  zinc :  the  second  pair  is  separated 
from  the  first  by  a  circular  piece  of  cloth  or  pasteboard,  well 
moistened  with  water,  or,  which  is  better,  with  salt  water,  or  acid 
water.  Upon  the  second  pair  is  placed  a  third,  arranged  in  the 
same  manner,  and  separated  also  by  a  moistened  circular  piece, 


Kg.  3. 


22  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

similar  to  that  which  preceded.  In  this  manner  a  greater  or  less 
number  of  pairs  are  superposed  one  upon  another,  care  being 
taken  to  retain  them  in  their  position  by  means  of  vertical  rods 
of  brass ;  if  the  precaution  has  been  taken  to  insulate  the  pile  by 
resting  its  base  upon  a  plate  of  glass,  it  is  found  to  be  charged 
with  negative  electricity  at  its  lower  extremity,  where  it  is  termi- 
nated by  the  copper  disc,  and  with  positive  electricity  at  its  upper 
extremity,  where  it  is  terminated  by  the  disc  of  zinc.  These 
extremities  are  termed  poles  ;  the  former  the  negative,  and  the 
latter  the  positive  pole  of  the  pile.  Had  the  two  metals  been 
placed  in  another  order,  namely,  had  we  commenced  with  the 
zinc,  and  placed  upon  it  the  copper  disc,  then  the  moistened  cloth, 
and  then  again  zinc,  copper,  and  moist  cloth,  and  so  on,  the  posi- 
tive pole  would  have  been  below,  and  the  negative  above.  Two 
wires  lead,  one  from  the  extreme  copper,  and  the  other  from  the 
extreme  zinc,  each  communicating  the  electricity  of  the  pole 
whence  it  originates;  and  when  they  are  brought  together,  a 
spark  passes  between  them,  resulting  from  the  neutralization  of 
the  two  contrary  electricities.  If  these  wires  are  held  one  in 
each  hand,  when  the  number  of  pairs  in  the  pile  is  sufficiently 
great,  a  series  of  shocks  is  felt,  the  sensation  of  which  is  some- 
times very  painful.  When,  instead  of  the  human  body,  a  very 
fine  wire  of  iron,  platinum,  or  any  other  metal,  an  inch  or  two 
in  length,  is  employed  to  connect  the  two  conductors,  the  neutral- 
ization of  the  two  kinds  of  electricities  is  brought  about  through 
this  wire,  which  rises  in  temperature  and  becomes  incandescent. 
The  length  and  diameter  of  the  wire  that  can  be  heated  are 
greater  in  proportion  as  the  pile  is  more  powerful.  The  most 
remarkable  circumstance  is,  that  the  incandescent  condition  of 
the  wire  is  permanent,  because  the  neutralization  of  the  two 
electricities  is  continued,  the  pile  liberating  them  at  each  of  its 
poles,  in  proportion  and  as  rapidly  as  they  are  neutralized. 

The  form  of  a  column,  which  Volta  gave  to  his  apparatus,  was 
soon  abandoned ;  it  had  many  inconveniences,  among  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  was  the  rapid  drying  up  of  the  pieces  of  moistened 
cloth  or  pasteboard,  whence  arose  a  great  diminution  in  the  power 
of  the  pile. 


PROPAGATION   OF    ELECTRICITY.  23 

To  remedy  this,  it  was  proposed  to  substitute  for  these  discs  a 
bed  of  liquid,  which  necessarily  required  that  what  was  a  vertical 
pile  should  be  rendered  horizontal,  and  that  each  pair  should  then 
be  composed,  not  of  two  circular  discs,  but  of  two  rectangular 
plates  in  contact,  and  should  be  cemented  one  after  the  other  in 
the  grooves  of  a  wooden  trough,  so  as  to  leave  between  them 
vacant  spaces,  or  cells,  to  be  filled  with  liquid.  This  mode  of 
construction,  which  was  first  pointed  out  by  Cruikshanks,  was 
adopted  in  establishing  the  great  voltaic  pile  that  was  given  to 
the  Polytechnic  School  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and  with 
which  MM.  Gay-Lussac  and  Thenard  made  their  experiments 
in  1808. 

This  form,  however,  proved  unsatisfactory,  and  a  return  was 
made  to  a  form  that  Volta  had  previously  pointed  out,  in  con- 
structing his  pile  called  Couronne  de  Tasses,  —  a  pile  in  which 
the  liquids  are  placed  in  vessels  independent  of  the  metal  plates, 
and  the  sides  of  which,  of  glass,  porcelain,  or  pipe-clay,  allow 
them  to  be  placed  one  after  the  other,  and  even  in  contact, 
without  any  communication  arising  between  the  liquid  strata 
contained  in  them.  With  this  in  view,  either  a  series  of  ordi- 
nary cylindrical  glasses  is  employed,  as  in  the  couronne  de  tasses 
pile,  or  a  porcelain  trough,  divided  off,  by  partitions  made  with 
the  trough,  into  a  certain  number,  of  cells  (generally  ten),  in  equal 
and  successive  compartments  of  a  rectangular  form,  into  each  of 
which  the  liquid  is  poured,  care  being  taken  not  to  fill  them  com- 
pletely. The  liquids  are  thus  totally  insulated  from  each  other. 
With  regard  to  the  metal  plates,  as  it  was  very  quickly  perceived 
that  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  zinc  and  copper  to  be  in  con- 
tact throughout  their  surface,  but  that  it  sufficed  for  them  to  be 
so  in  certain  points  only,  it  was  enough  to  plunge  into  the  liquid 
of  each  compartment  a  zinc  and  a  copper  plate,  and  to  make  a 
communication  by  means  of  a  small  plate  of  copper,  in  the  form 
of  an  arc,  between  the  zinc  of  one  compartment  and  the  copper 
of  the  following  one,  and  so  on.  This  is  done  in  the  couronne 
de  tasses.  By  this  method  the  liquid  stratum,  as  in  the  primitive 
pile,  occurs  between  the  zinc  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  copper  on 
the  other;  and  the  zinc  and  copper  that  are  plunged  into  the  same 


24  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

liquid  are  never  in  metallic  contact,  which  is  as  it  should  be. 
But  to  facilitate  operations,  care  is  taken  in  the  trough  piles  to 
fix  the  pairs,  which  are  the  same  in  number  as  the  compartments 
of  the  trough,  to  a  rod  of  glass  or  varnished  wood :  they  are  held 
there  by  means  of  the  copper  arc,  which  forms  the  means  of 
communication  between  the  metals  of  the  pair.  The  metal 
plates  must  be  arranged  one  after  the  other  in  the  proper  order, 
and  at  such  distances  that,  by  holding  in  the  hands  the  two  ends 
of  the  rod  to  which  they  are  fixed,  they  may  be  plunged  all 
together  into  their  respective  troughs,  and  so  that  each  occupies 
the  place  prescribed  for  it ;  i.  e.  so  that  there  shall  be  found  in 
the  same  liquid  only  the  zinc  of  the  preceding  couple,  and  the  cop- 
per of  the  following  one,  or  reciprocally. 

DanieWsj  Grove's,  and  Smee's  Constant  Batteries. 

The  piles,  or  batteries,  that  we  have  been  describing,  and 
which  were  for  a  long  time. exclusively  used,  all  possess  one  in- 
convenience, which  is,  that  after  a  short  time  they  lose  their 
power ;  and,  in  general,  their  force  is  very  variable  during  the 
progress  of  the  same  experiment,  even  when  the  duration  does 
not  extend  beyond  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  This  gradual,  and,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  rapid  diminution,  is  due  to  several  causes, 
the  principal  of  which  is  that  the  Jiquid  placed  between  the  pairs 
is  decomposed  when  the  poles  of  the  piles  are  connected  by  a 
conductor,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  liquid  is  decomposed  that 
is  interposed  between  the  poles  themselves ;  it  hence  results  that 
the  copper  of  each  pair  is  covered  with  hydrogen,  and  even  with 
oxide  of  zinc,  arising  from  the  decomposition  of  the  water,  and 
from  that  of  the  sulphate  of  zinc  which  is  constantly  formed  from 
the  action  of  the  sulphuric  acid  upon  the  zinc.  This  deposit,  by 
altering  the  surface  of  the  copper,  and  rendering  it  almost  similar 
to  that  of  zinc,  which  latter,  on  its  own  part,  is  very  rapidly  oxi- 
dized, destroys  in  great  part  one  of  the  conditions  essential  in 
the  construction  of  a  battery,  the  heterogeneity  of  the  two  metals  ; 
and  consequently  very  notably  reduces  its  power.  Hence  it  was 
necessary  to  clean  the  plates  of  a  pile  every  time  it  was  used, 
before  putting  it  in  action  again. 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY.  25 

In  1836,  Daniell,  in  order  to  avoid  the  inconvenience  that  we 
have  just  pointed  out,  conceived  the  idea  of  plunging  the  copper 
of  each  pair  into  a  different  liquid  from  that  in  which  the  zinc 
was  plunged ;  he  placed  the  former  of  these  metals  in  a  solution 
of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  the  latter  in  a  diluted  solution  of 
water  and  sulphuric  acid,  or  in  a  solution  of  sea-salt.  The  dif- 
ficulty was  to  separate  these  two  liquids -by  a  substance  which, 
while  preventing  the  mixture,  should  not  alter  the  conductibility  of 
the  heterogeneous  liquid  conductor  interposed  between  the  plates 
of  the  pairs.  A  metal  diaphragm  could  not  be  thought  of,  for  this 
would  have  violated  one  of  the  fundamental  conditions  of  the 
construction  of  the  battery,  which  requires  that  there  should  be 
a  conductor  totally  moist  between  the  pairs.  Daniell  had  recourse 
to  an  organic  substance,  according  to  the  method  which  Bec- 
querel  had  first  pointed  out ;  and  he  made  some  diaphragms  with 
bladder,  with  stout  paper,  with  very  thin  wood,  or  with  very 
closely  woven  linen  cloth.  Experience  has  given  the  preference 
to  diaphragms  of  thin  wood,  —  lime-tree  wood,  for  example,  — 
and  those  of  bladder ;  but  care  must  be  taken  to  preserve  them 
from  flaws,  or  in  general  from  all  solution  of  continuity.  With 
this  in  view,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  wooden  diaphragms  con- 
stantly in  water  when  they  are  not  in  use,  and  to  place  those 
made  of  bladder  under  protection  from  the  attacks  of  insects  and 
from  the  contact  of  every  foreign  body.  The  difficulty  experi- 
enced in  taking  these  precautions  has  induced  several  philoso- 
phers to  adopt,  as  indeed  Daniell  himself  did,  diaphragms  of  un- 
glazed,  porous  earth ;  but  the  battery  loses  much  of  its  power, 
especially  for  calorific  and  chemical  effects.  It  answers,  however, 
an  excellent  purpose  in  connection  with  the  electric  telegraph, 
and  is  very  extensively  used  upon  all  lines  in  this  country,  as  we 
shall  see  further  on.  Daniell  gave  the  cylindrical  form  to  the 
pairs  of  his  battery,  on  account  of  the  greater  facility  of  pro- 
curing diaphragms  of  this  form.  In  his  battery  (Fig.  4)  a  hol- 
low copper  cylinder  is  plunged  into  a  glass  vessel  filled  with  a 
solution  of  sulphate  of  copper ;  in  the  interior  of  the  cylinder  is 
placed  either  a  bag  made  of  bladder,  or  a  wooden  tube,  or  a  hol- 
low cylinder  of  porous  earth  (the  latter  is  the  universal  form 
3 


26 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


used  at  present),  which  is  filled  with  either  acidulated  or  saline 
water ;  finally,  in  this  water  is  plunged  a  zinc  cylinder,  which  is  in 

metallic  com- 
muni  cation 
with  the  cop- 
per of  the  suc- 
ceeding pairs 
by  means  of  a 
wire  attached 
to  a  screw-cup 
upon  the  cop- 
per cylinder. 
The  zinc  cyl- 
inder may  be  solid  or  hollow;  in  the 
latter  case  it  is  cast  with  a  small  projec- 
tion at  the  top,  to  which  is  attached  a 
screw-cup  similar  to  the  one  upon  the 
copper  cylinder.  Some  prefer  the  latter 
mode,  because  the  zinc  presents  more 
points  of  contact  with  the  liquid ;  but  it 
is  consumed  more  rapidly.  We  prefer, 
however,  a  solid  cylinder,  considerably 
larger  in  diameter  at  the  middle  than  at 
either  end,  on  account  of  the  greater  action  which  takes  place  in 
the  centre  of  the  cup  than  at  either  extremity.  This  mode  was 
first  used  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Stearns,  Superintendent  of  the  Fire 
Alarm  Telegraph  in  Boston,  who  arrived  at  this  result  after  a 
large  number  of  observations  upon  the  various  batteries  in  use 
upon  the  circuits  of  his  districts. 

The  Daniell  battery  is  used  upon  nearly  all  telegraph  lines  in 
the  United  States  for  a  local  current.  They  have  been  substitut- 
ed for  the  Grove,  which  was  formerly  exclusively  used  for  local 
as  well  as  main  circuits.  They  are  much  superior  to  the  Grove 
in  that  they  require  less  attention,  are  not  offensive  in  smell  nor 
injurious  to  health,  and  furnish  a  steady,  reliable  current.  Two 
cups  are  generally  sufficient  to  work  a  Morse  register  or  sounder. 
These  batteries  have  also  been  introduced  with  good  success 


Fig.  4. 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


27 


upon  some  lines  for  working  main  circuits.     The  following  form 
(Fig.  5)  was  designed  by  Messrs.  C.  T.  &  J.  N.  Chester,  of  New 


Fig.  5. 

York,  especially  for  local  circuits  upon  telegraph  lines.  Z  is  a 
cylinder  of  zinc;  P(7,  porous,  or  unglazed  earthen  cup;  (7,  cop- 
per cell,  with  perforated  copper  chamber  attached ;  6?,  glass  tum- 
bler. This  form  of  the  Daniell  battery,  and  that  represented  hi 
Fig.  4,  designed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hall,  of  Boston,  are  most  gen- 
erally preferred,  although  many  others  have  been  devised  by  can- 
didates anxious  to  obtain  the  fame  of  a  new  invention,  and  who 
have  accordingly  varied  the  form  of  the  battery  in  a  diversity  of 
ways,  without  any  real  advantage. 

A  second  constant  pile,  and  one  in  which  two  different  liquids 
are  also  employed,  is  that  of  Grove.  In  this  battery  the  zinc  is 
amalgamated,  and  is  plunged  into  sulphuric  acid  diluted  with  ten 
or  twenty  times  its  volume  of  water.  The  other  metal  is  plati- 
num, and  not  copper,  and  is  plunged  into  nitric  acid,  either  pure 
of  40°,  or  diluted  with  half  its  volume  of  water,  or  mixed  with 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


one  fourth  concentrated  sulphuric  acid.  The  diaphragm  by  which 
the  two  liquids  are  separated  is  not  in  this  case  of  an  organic  na- 
ture ;  for  it  would  be  immediately  destroyed  by  the  action  of  the 
nitric  acid  ( Fig.  6) :  it  is  of  unglazed  porcelain  or  pipe-clay ; 


Fig.  6. 


in  this  state  these  substances  have  the  advantage  of  being  suffi- 
ciently porous  to  permit  communication  between  the  liquids,  and 
at  the  same  time  of  entirely  preventing  their  mixture. 


Fig.  7. 


In  Grove's  battery  (Fig.  7)  the  pairs  are  generally  of  a  cylin- 
drical form  j  they  are  cylinders  of  zinc  (Fig.  8)  and  plates  of 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


29 


platinum  plunged  into  cups  of  porcelain  or  glass.  Each  cell  con- 
tains dilute  sulphuric  acid,  in  which  the  zinc  is  immersed,  and  a 
small  cell  of  porous  earth 
filled  within  with  nitric 
acid.  In  this  acid  is 
placed  the  platinum  plate, 
in  metallic  contact  with 
the  zinc  of  the  succeed- 
ing or  following  cell. 
This  contact  is  estab- 
lished between  the  arm 
of  the  zinc  cylinder  (Fig. 
9)  and  the  platinum 
plate,  which  are  soldered 
together.  Experiment 
has  shown  that  the  pow- 
er of  these  batteries  is  much  increased  by  giving  to  the  zinc 
plates  a  very  large  surface  in  respect  to  the  platinum  plates.  With 


Fig.  8. 


this  in  view,  the  zinc   cylinder  is  made  hollow,  and   encloses 
3* 


30  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

the  porous  unglazed  earthen  cylinder,  into  which  passes  a  thin 
strip  of  platinum,  one  inch  in  width  by  three  in  length ;  the  arm 
of  the  zinc  of  the  preceding  cup  projects  over  the  porous  cylin- 
der so  as  to  admit  of  the  platinum  strip  occupying  a  vertical 
position  in  the  cell,  and  presenting  a  parallel  surface  to  the  zinc 
cylinder. 

When  Grove's  battery  is  in  action,  —  that  is,  when  its  poles  are 
united,  —  the  hydrogen  arising  from  the  decomposition  of  the 
acidulated  water  in  which  the  metals  of  the  pairs  are  plunged  is 
not  developed  upon  the  platinum,  but  changes  the  nitric  acid  into 
nitrous  acid ;  the  oxide  of  zinc  remains,  as  before,  in  the  liquid, 
where  the  zinc  itself  is,  and  does  not  penetrate  through  the  po- 
rous partition  to  the  platinum.  The  latter  then  retains  a  per- 
fectly clean  surface ;  and  it  is  this  circumstance  which  contributes 
essentially  to  this  pile's  maintaining  for  a  greater  or  less  length 
of  time,  according  to  the  use  that  is  made  of  it,  that  power  which 
is  at  once  so  constant  and  so  energetic,  and  which  renders  it  so 
valuable  in  practice.  The  nitric  acid,  however,  as  it  changes 
into  nitrous  acid  by  the  action  of  the  hydrogen,  passes  into  red- 
dish-brown, and  then  into  green,  and  finally  acquires  a  tem- 
perature so  elevated  that  it  enters  into  ebullition ;  in  this  case,  it 
is  necessary  immediately  to  arrest  the  action  of  the  pile. 

Fig.  10  represents  the  platina  terminal  to  a  Grove  series, — 
heavy  metallic  base  and  binding  screw  attachment. 

Bunsen's  battery  differs  from  Grove's  only  in  that  carbon  sup- 
plies the  place  of  platinum.  This  substitution  arose  essentially 
from  the  high  price  of  platinum,  which  on  this  account  is  used  in 
narrow  strips,  so  thin  that  they  are  frequently  torn.  Bunsen's 
pile  has  also  the  cylindrical  form  of  Daniell's  ;  in  fact,  if  in  the 
latter  a  hollow  cylinder  of  carbon  be  put  in  the  place  of  the  hol- 
low copper  cylinder,  and  pure  or  diluted  nitric  acid  in  place  of 
the  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  a  cylinder  of  porous  earth 
in  'place  of  the  porous  cylinder  of  organic  matter  in  which  are 
contained  the  diluted  sulphuric  acid  and  the  cylinder  of  zinc, 
we  obtain  Bunsen's  pile.  Each  carbon  cylinder  carries  at  its 
upper  part  a  collar  of  copper,  furnished  with  an  appendix,  which 
is  placed  in  contact,  by  means  of  pincers,  with  a  similar  appendix 


PROPAGATION  OF   ELECTRICITY. 


31 


carried  by  each  zinc  cylinder ;  care,  however,  must  be  taken  that 
the  carbon  cylinder  is  sufficiently  high,  that  the  part  which  car- 


rig.  10. 


ries  the  copper  ring  shall  rise  above  the  glass  vessel,  and  conse- 
quently shall  in  no  way  be  in  contact  with  the  nitric  acid.  How- 
ever, as  the  charcoal  is  very  porous,  the  capillarity  causes  the 
acid  finally  to  attain  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  and  to  alter  inte- 
riorly the  copper  ring.  Therefore,  every  time  this  pile  is  used,  it 
is  necessary  to  move  these  rings  and  wash  and  carefully  clean 
them. 

A  more  convenient  arrangement,  inasmuch  as  it  is  free  from 
the  kind  of  inconvenience  that  we  have  just  pointed  out,  is  that 
contrived  by  M.  Bonijal,  who  employs,  instead  of  hollow  cylin- 
ders, solid  cylinders  of  carbon,  in  the  top  of  which  is  thrust  a 
stout  copper  rod,  bent  so  as  to  be  put  into  communication  with  a 
screw  cup  upon  the  zinc.  The  top  of  the  carbon  cylinder  around 
the  place  in  which  the  copper  rod  is  inserted  is  covered  with  a 


32  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

coating  made  of  wax,  prepared  so  as  to  penetrate  to  a  sufficient 
depth  into  the  pores  of  the  portion  of  the  carbon  which  it  covers, 
and  to  which  it  adheres  strongly.  The  consequence  of  this  is  that 
the  nitric  acid  cannot  ascend  as  far  as  the  copper  rod.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  in  this  pile  the  amalgamated  zinc  is  outside  the  carbon ; 
it  is  a  hollow  cylinder  plunged  into  the  glass  vessel  that  is  filled 
with  diluted  sulphuric  acid ;  the  porous  tube  is  placed  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  zinc  cylinder,  and  itself  receives  the  carbon  and  the 
nitric  acid  into  which  the  latter  must  be  plunged. 

The  Smee  battery  (Fig.  11),  invented  by  Alfred   Smee,  of 
London,  has  been  used   somewhat   extensively  upon  telegraph 


Fig.  11. 

lines  in  this  country  during  the  past  five  years,  having  been  de- 
signed, however,  more  particularly  for  use  in  electro-metallurgy. 

This  battery  was  made  upon  noticing  the  property  which  rough 
surfaces  possess  of  evolving  the  hydrogen,  and  smooth  surfaces 
of  favoring  its  adhesion.  Thus,  whatever  metal  is  used  for  a 
negative  plate  is  roughened,  either  by  a  corrosive  acid  or  me- 
chanically, by  rubbing  the  surface  with  sand-paper.  The  liquid 
generally  used  to  charge  this  battery  is  one  part  sulphuric  acid 
to  ten  of  water.  The  form  of  the  battery  used  for  telegraphic 
purposes  consists  of  a  strip  of  platinum,  one  inch  wide  by  ten  in 
length,  fastened  to  a  beam  of  wood,  upon  the  opposite  side  of 
which  is  a  plate  of  zinc  mercurialized,  and  both  plunged  into  a 
glass  tumbler.  In  arranging  a  series  of  cells,  the  zinc  of  the  one 
cup  is  attached  to  the  platinum  of  the  next. 

The  electro-motive  force  of  this  battery  is  about  half  that  of 
Daniell,  and  one  fourth  that  of  Grove. 


PROPAGATION   OF   ELECTRICITY. 


33 


Chester's  telegraph  battery  for  main  circuit  is  represented  in 
Fig.  12.     A  is  an  insulated  wood-piece;  B*  brass  clamps;   Z, 


Fy.J 


Fig.  12. 


zinc  plates ;  P,  platinized  plates  ;  T,  tumblers.  In  battery  Fig.  1, 
the  wooden  pieces  rest  upon  the  glasses.  In  battery  Fig.  2,  they 
rest  on  iron  brackets  against  supports. 

This  battery  is  based  upon  the  principles  of  the  Smee  pile,  but 
is  an  improvement  in  form  and  in  the  mode  of  connecting  the 
cells.  They  have  been  in  extensive  use  for  about  five  years, 
and  are  much  liked  for  their  constancy  and  cleanliness. 

Fig.  13  shows  another  method  of  connecting  the  plates,  dis- 

c 


84  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

pensing  entirely  with  wood-work.     The  uprights  shown  are  of 


Fig.  13 

cast  iron,  insulated  at  the  top  from  the  plate  clamps  with  Protean 

rubber.     Fig.    14  represents    zinc 
plates  for  the  above  battery. 

Fig  15  represents  a  pocket  bat- 
tery in  its  case,  which  occupies  a 
space  only  eight  inches  long,  five 
inches  high,  and  two  inches  deep. 
It  is  charged  in  twenty  seconds,  and 
discharged  in  one.  It  will  work  a 
line  five  miles  long  with  ease  for 
ten  hours,  and  is  invaluable  in  mak- 
ing tests  in  places  where  the  trans- 
portation and  care  of  a  large  bat- 
tery would  be  troublesome. 

Another  source  whence  currents 
of  electricity  may  be  obtained  is  to 
be  found  in  certain  animals.    In  the 
bodies  of  certain  fishes  a  very  fer- 
Flg<  14>  tile  source  of  electricity  is   found, 


PROPAGATION  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


35 


independently  of  friction.     This  power  is  often  very  intense,  so 
much  so  as  to  deprive  smaller  animals  of  their  life,  and  to  stun 


Tig.  15. 


or  render  powerless  for  the  time  being  even  larger  animals,  such 
as  the  horse. 


Fig.  16. 


Among  the  most  remarkable  of  this  class  of  animals  may  be 
enumerated  the  Raia  torpedo  (Fig.  16),  the  Gymnotus  electricus. 


36 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


or  electric  eel   (Fig.  17),  the  Silurus  electricus,  the  Trichiurus 
electricus,  and  the  Tetraodon  electricus. 


Fig.  17. 

Recent  experiments  made  by  MM.  Humboldt  and  Gay-Lussac 
have  proved  that  the  least  injury  to  the  brain  of  these  animals 
destroys  at  once  their  power  of  producing  these  shocks. 

In  1773,  the  celebrated  Hunter  published  the  anatomical  struc- 
ture of  the  torpedo,  showing  the  position  of  the  electric  organs. 


PROPAGATION   OF  ELECTRICITY.  37 

In  a  fish  eighteen  inches  long,  it  was  found  that  the  number  of 
columns  composing  each  organ  amounted  to  470. 

In  a  very  large  torpedo,  which  was  found  on  the  British  coast, 
4£  feet  long,  and  weighing  73  pounds,  the  number  of  columns  in 
each  organ  amounted  tp  1,182,  —  a  battery  power  of  no  despica- 
ble order. 

The  magnitude  and  number  of  nerves  in  the  torpedo  are  very- 
far  greater  than  those  supplied  to  any  other  animal  whatever ; 
and  it  is  also  evident  from  the  experiments,  that  the  power  of 
transmitting  these  powerful  shocks  of  electricity  is  controlled  and 
regulated  by  the  will  of  the  animal. 

The  spontaneous  production  of  electricity  by  animals  shows 
the  remarkable  fact,  that,  however  difficult  it  is  found  in  practice 
for  man  to  transmit,  artificially,  currents  of  electricity  from  any 
kind  of  electric  apparatus  wholly  submersed  in  water,  yet  Nature, 
in  her  sublime  workings,  finds  no  difficulty  whatever  in  so 
doing. 

The  torpedo  is  occasionally  found  in  the  waters  surrounding 
Cape  Cod,  and  is  known  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  locality  as  the 
Cramp-fish,  from  the  manner  in  which  the  muscles  of  tfye  hands 
and  arms  are  cramped  when  in  contact  with  this  singular  animal. 

Formerly  the  torpedo  was  quite  common  ya.  that  locality,  fre- 
quently being  caught  by  the  hook,  as  well  as  found  upon  the 
beach,  but  of  late  it  is  more  rarely  seen. 

The  inhabitants  state  that,  when  touched  by  the  hand,  the 
shock  received  is  so  powerful  as  to  prostrate  a  man  instantly. 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

MAGNETISM. 

THERE  exists  in  nature  a  mineral  named  Loadstone,  known 
from  all  antiquity,  which  possesses  the  property  of  attracting 
particles  of  iron  which  are  placed  near  it,  in  certain  points  of  its 
surface  which  are  called  poles.  This  mineral  is  a  compound  of 
iron  and  oxygen.  The  ancients  called  it  payvys,  from  the  city  of 
Magnesia  in  Lydia,  where  it  was  found  in  abundance ;  hence 
arose  the  name  of  magnetism  for  that  part  of  physics  which 
treats  of  the  phenomena  of  which  it  is  the  origin,  and  the  name 
of  magnetic  for  the  phenomena  themselves. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  properties  of  the  loadstone  is 
that  by  virtue  of  which  it  communicates  its  property  of  attract- 
ing iron  to  a  needle  or  a  steel  bar  (Fig.  18)  which 
is  rubbed  several  times  consecutively  in  the  same 
direction  against  one  of  its  poles.  This  needle  or 
bar  thus  becomes  capable  of  attracting  towards  its 
extremities  a  considerable  quantity  of  filings  or  pieces 
of  iron.  The  needle  is  then  said  to  be  magnetized, 
and  its  poles  are  at  its  extremities.  If  the  steel  bar 
exceed  six  or  eight  inches  in  length,  we  sometimes 
find  two,  or  even  four,  poles  beside  those  at  its 
ends. 

If,  after  having  magnetized  a  steel  needle,  we 
suspend  it  by  its  centre  of  gravity  to  a  thread,  or 
place  it  on  a  point  by  means  of  a  cap,  it  is  found  to 
take  a  determinate  direction  towards  a  point  of  the 
horizon  which  is  very  nearly  north  and  south  (Fig. 
19).  The"  point  of  the  needle  that  is  directed  to- 
wards the  north  has  been  termed  the  north  pole,  and 
that  which  is  directed  towards  the  south,  the  south  pole. 
For  a  long  time  philosophers  were  struck  with  the  analogy 


MAGNETISM. 


39 


Fig.  19. 


that  seemed  to  exist  between  electric  and  magnetic  phenomena : 
two  magnetisms,  as  there  are  two  electricities  ;  attraction  and 
repulsion  exercised  between 
the  contrary  magnetisms  as 
between  the  electricities,  ac- 
cording to  similar  laws. 

In  1820,  Oersted,  a  Danish 
philosopher,  succeeded  in  dis- 
covering the  relation  between 
magnetism  and  electricity. 
Electricity  acts  upon  a  mag- 
net; and  a  magnet  in  its 
turn  acts  upon  electricity; 
but  only  when  the  electricity 
is  in  motion,  that  is  to  say,  in 
the  condition  that  we  term 
dynamic ;  there  is  no  action  when  the  electricity  is  in  the  static 
or  tension  state. 

The  following  is  Oersted's  fundamental  experiment :  — 
Unite  the  two  poles  of  a  battery  by  a  wire.  Place  above  or 
below  this  wire  a  mag- 
netized needle,  freely 
suspended,  and  paral- 
lel to  its  direction  (Fig. 
20).  The  needle  im- 
mediately suffers  a  de- 
viation, which  is  the 
more  considerable  as 
the  voltaic  pile  is  the 
more  powerful ;  and  it 
tends  to  place  itself  per- 
pendicularly to  the  con- 
junctive wire,  a  posi 
tion  which  it  succeeds 
in  obtaining  when  the 
electricity  developed 
by  the  pile  is  very  strong  (Fig.  21).  The  direction  of  the 


40  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

deviation  depends  upon  two  circumstances  :  the  first  is  the  position 
of  the  conjunctive  wire  in  relation  to  the  magnetized  needle,  — 


Fig.  21. 

it  may  be  above  or  below ;  the  second  is  the  communication  of 
each  of  the  two  extremities  of  the  conjunctive  wire  with  either 
pole  of  the  pile.  Thus,  if,  the  conjunctive  wire  being  below  the 
needle,  the  positive  pole  of  the  pile  communicate  with  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  wire  that  is  on  the  south  side,  and  the  negative 
pole  with  that  which  is  on  the  north  side,  the  north  pole  of  the 
magnetized  needle  deviates  to  the  east ;  if  we  change  the  place  of 
the  poles  of  the  battery,  it  deviates  to  the  west.  But  if  the  con- 
junctive wire  be  above  the  needle,  instead  of  below,  the  deviation 
occurs  in  the  contrary  direction ;  that  is  to  say,  the  north  pole  of 
the  needle  deviates  to  the  west  when  the  positive  pole  is  at  the 
south  extremity  of  the  conjunctive  wire,  and  the  negative  pole  at 
the  north  extremity,  and  to  the  east  when  the  place  of  the  poles 
of  the  pile  is  inverted. 

If  the  conjunctive  wire  be  not  placed  parallel  to  the  needle,  but 


MAGNETISM. 


41 


in  such  a  manner  that  its  direction  forms,  with  that  of  the  needle, 
either  above  or  below  it,  a  greater  or  less  angle,  the  action  is  still 
the  same  ;  the  needle  in  like  manner  manifests  its  tendency  to 
place  itself  across  or  perpendicular  to  the  wire,  a  tendency  which 
it  obeys  entirely  when  the  force  of  the  pile  is  sufficient  to  sur- 
mount the  resistance  to  deviation  arising  from  the  directive  force 
of  the  earth  (Fig.  22). 


M.  Ampere  was  not  long  in  taking  up  this  experiment,  and 
deducing  from  it  many  theoretical  and  experimental  consequences 
of  the  highest  interest,  which,  under  the  name  of  electro-dynamics, 
have  formed  an  entirely  new  part  of  physics.  He  observed  that 
the  action  discovered  by  Oersted  not  only  took  place  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  ^he  conjunctive  wire,  but  that  it  was  in  like  manner  exer- 
cised by  all  parts  of  the  conductor  by  which  the  two  poles  of  a 
pile  are  united,  and  by  the  pile  itself ;  but  only  when  its  poles 
communicate  together. 

Ampere  drew  some  important  conclusions  from  this  experiment ; 
namely,  that  the  force,  whatever  it  may  be,  that  acts  upon  the  mag- 
netized needle,  emanates  equally  from  all  parts  of  a  voltaic  cir- 
cuit, designating  by  these  words  the  pile  and  the  whole  of  the  con- 
ductors, whatever  they  may  be,  by  which  the  poles  are  connected. 


42  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

The  second  conclusion  is,  that  the  force  in  question  is  circulat- 
ing ;  for  how  can  we  otherwise  explain  why  it  acts  in  contrary 
directions  when  it  emanates  from  the  two  opposite  or  parallel 
portions  of  the  circuit,  this  opposition  being  the  only  circumstance 
that  establishes  the  conditions  of  the  experiment  ?  We  may 
compare  its  action  with  that  which  a  current  of  water  would  exer- 
'cise,  if  circulating  in  an  annular  canal.  In  this  case,  small,  light 
bodies,  floating  on  the  water,  would  be  drawn  onward  by  two 
parallel  or  opposite  portions  of  the  current  of  water.  This  anal- 
ogy has  led  to  the  name  of  electric  current  being  applied  to  the 
force  that  arises  in  the  whole  of  the  circuit,  from  the  reunion  of 
the  two  poles  of  a  pile  by  a  conductor.  The  electric  current  is 
the  representative  of  the  continued  dynamic  state  of  electricity. 

From  the  origin  of  these  researches,  M.  Ampere  perceived 
that  an  electric  current  not  only  acts  upon  a  magnet,  but  that  it 
also  exercises  an  action  upon  another  electric  current.  He  found 
that  this  action  consisted  in  that,  if  two  portions  of  rectilinear 
currents  parallel  to  each  other  are  both  movable,  or  are  the  one 
fixed  and  the  other  movable,  they  are  mutually  attractive  when  they 
are  moving  in  the  same  direction,  and  repulsive  when  they  are  mov- 
ing in  a  contrary  direction.  The  attraction  in  this  case  does  not 
cease  with  contact,  as  occurs  when  we  are  referring  to  the  attrac- 
tion of  electric  bodies  in  static  electricity ;  it  remains  so  long  as 
the  current  continues  to  traverse  the  conductors. 

Immediately  after  Oersted's  discovery,  M.  Arago  showed 
that  an  electric  current  attracts  iron  filings  (Fig.  23)  and  pro- 


Fig.  23. 


MAGNETISM. 


duces  magnetization  just  as  a  magnet  would  do.     He  always 
found  that,  in  order  to  impress  a  more  decided  magnetism  upon 
a  steel  needle,  it  was  necessary  to  employ  a  conductor  bent  into 
a  helix,  within  the  axis  of  which  he 
placed  the  needle,  instead  of  using 
the  rectilinear  current  (Fig.  24).     In 
the  experiment  of  the  electric  cur- 
rent  upon   iron  filings,  it  was     ob- 
served that,  as  soon  as  the  current 
ceases  to  pass  through  the  wire,  the  Fi 

mass  immediately  falls.  This  phe- 
nomenon proves  the  susceptibility  of  the  particles  of  iron  to  ac- 
quire a  powerful  magnetism  under  the  influence  of  a  current, 
and  to  lose  it  as  soon  as  this  influence  ceases.  Subsequently 
experiments  were  made  by  surrounding  a  bar  of  soft  iron,  bent 
into  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe  (Fig.  25),  with  copper  wire  covered 
with  silk,  and  wound  into  a  helix,  care  being  taken  that  the  helix 
of  the  second  branch  should  be  the  continuation  of  the  helix  of  the 


Fig.  25. 


Fig.  26. 


first ;  so  that  if  the  bar  had  been  straightened,  the  two  helices 
would  have  formed  but  one,  both  right-handed,  or  both  left-handed. 
A  feeble  electric  current,  such  as  that  produced  by  a  single  pair  of 
copper  and  zinc  plates,  is  sufficient,  on  being  transmitted  through 
the  wire,  to  magnetize  the  bar  powerfully  (Fig.  26).  The  mag- 
netization is  instantaneous  ;  it  occurs  as  soon  as  the  current  com- 
mences passing,  but  it  ceases  almost  entirely  with  the  current. 


44 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


It  is  so  energetic  that,  with  a  suitable  pile,  we  can  make  a  bar  of 
soft  iron  sustain  a  weight  of  a  ton  (Fig.  27).  These  temporary 
magnets  are  called  electro-magnets,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  permanent  magnets  of 
steel,  and  electric  helices  or  solenoids.  The 
discovery  of  electro-magnets  has  given  a 
very  great  advance  to  magnetism,  by  fur- 
nishing us  with  a  means  of  acquiring  im- 
mense, and  we  may  say  almost  unlimited, 
magnetic  power.  We  shall  see,  farther  on 
the  immense  advantages  which  mankind  has 
derived  from  it  in  its  application  to  electric 
telegraphy. 

Many  experiments  have  been  made  to 
determine  the  conditions  most  favorable  for 
the  development  of  powerful  magnetism  in 
electro-magnets.  The  length  and  diameter 
of  the  branches  of  the  horse-shoe,  the  num- 
ber of  convolutions  of  the  conducting  wire, 
and  its  diameter,  have  successively  been 
the  subjects  of  numerous  investigations. 
The  force  and  nature  of  the  pile  employed 
for  producing  the  current  have  also  been  varied,  and  researches 
have  been  made  as  to  whether  it  is  better  that  the  wire  coiled 
round  the  two  branches  of  the  electro-magnet  should  be  continu- 
ous, so  as  to  be  traversed  successively  by  the  whole  of  the  cur- 
rent ;  or  whether  it  is  preferable  for  it  to  be  divided  into  a 
greater  number  of  wires,  among  which  the  total  current  should 
be  divided.  MM.  Moll,  Liphaus,  Quetelet,  Prof.  Henry,  and 
many  others,  are  still  engaged  upon  this  subject.  With  a  cur- 
rent of  a  certain  intensity,  or  developed  by  a  certain  pile,  one 
kind  of  electro-magnet  is  preferable,  whilst  with  another  current, 
of  a  different  intensity  or  origin,  another  kind  would  be  pref- 
erable. 

The  quality  of  the  iron  exercises  a  great  influence  over  the 
power  of  the  electro-magnet ;  it  must  be  as  soft  as  possible  :  thus 
old  iron,  and  especially  Swedish  iron,  is  preferable  to  all  others. 


Fig.  27. 


MAGNETISM.  45 

It  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  anneal  it  several  times,  in  order  to  soften 
it,  taking  care  to  allow  it  to  cool  very  slowly.  The  rapidity  with 
which  iron  loses  its  magnetism,  as  soon  as  the  current  ceases, 
depends  essentially  upon  its  nature ;  however,  it  likewise  depends 
upon  the  dimensions  of  the  bar.  Horse-shoes  whose  branches 
are  long  lose  their  magnetism  much  less  easily  and  much  more 
slowly  than  those  whose  branches  are  short,  —  four  inches  in 
length,  for  example.  The  presence  of  the  armature  at  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  branches  of  an  electro-magnet  contributes  towards 
its  preserving  its  magnetism. 

Electro-magnetic  Galvanometers. 

The  action  exercised  by  a  current  upon  a  magnetized  needle 
has  furnished  a  means  for  determining  the  existence  and  appre- 
ciating the  force  of  an  electric  current.  This  action  accompanies 
in  all  cases  the  presence  of  dynamic  electricity,  whatever  be  the 
nature  of  the  circuit  and  the  feebleness  of  the  electricity. 

We  have  seen  that  a  conductor  traversed  by  a  current  placed 
above  a  needle,  but  very  near  it,  and  parallel  to  its  axis,  makes 
this  needle  deviate  to  the  east  or  to  the  west,  according  as  it  is 
moving  in  a  direction  from  north  to  south,  or  from  south  to  north. 
If  it  be  below,  it  makes  it  deviate  to  the  east  when  it  is  moving  in 
the  direction  from  south  to  north,  and  to  the  west  when  it  is  mov- 
ing in  the  direction  from  north  to  south.  It  follows  from  this, 
that,  if  the  conductor  which  transmits  the  current,  passing  first 
above  the  needle,  be  bent  so  as  to  return  below,  and  so  form 
two  parallel  branches  between  which  the  needle  is  suspended, 
the  current  that  traverses  the  upper  branch  tends  to  make  the 
needle  deviate  in  the  same  direction  as  the  current  that  traverses 
the  lower  one,  precisely  because  it  has  in  the  former  a  contrary 
direction  to  what  it  has  in  the  latter.  By  thus  arranging  the 
wire  by  which  the  current  is  transmitted,  we  obtain  an  action 
upon  the  needle  twice  as  powerful  as  if,  being  kept  rectilinear, 
instead  of  being  bent,  it  had  acted  only  above  or  below.  But, 
instead  of  bending  it  once  only,  we  may  bend  it  twice,  which 
doubles  the  effect ;  three  times,  which  trebles  it ;  —  in  a  word,  we 


46 


PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 


can  cause  the  wire  to  make  a  very  great  number  of  convolutions, 
and  can  so  multiply  by  a  considerable  quantity  the  action  of  the 
current  upon  the  magnetized  needle.  A  very  feeble  current, 
whose  action  would  be  scarcely  visible  if  the  wire  by  which  it  is 
transmitted  made  but  one  convolution,  is  able  to  exert  a  very 
marked  action  when  the  number  of  convolutions  becomes  consid- 
erable. This  apparatus  has  therefore  been  named  the  galva- 
nometer-multiplier (Fig.  28). 


Fig.  28. 

In  constructing  it  we  employ  a  copper  wire  covered  with  silk, 
which  we  coil  round  a  wooden  frame  solidly  fixed  upon  a  stand, 
and  which  leaves  between  its  lower  and  upper  surface  the 


MAGNETISM.  47 

smallest  possible  space ;  it  is  in  the  interior  of  this  space  that  the 
magnetized  needle  is  suspended  :  the  two  ends  of  the  wire,  which 
are  carefully  deprived  of  the  silk  that  covers  them,  serve  to  place 
the  galvanometer,  that  is  to  say,  the  wire  of  the  instrument,  in 
the  circuit.  At  the  moment  when  a  circuit  is  thus  closed,  provid- 
ing that  a  current  is  propagated  in  it,  we  see  the  needle  move  ; 
the  direction  in  which  it  moves  indicates  the  direction  of  the  cur- 
rent, the  presence  of  which  is  detected  by  this  movement ;  and 
the  number  of  degrees,  or  the  size  of  the  arc  of  deviation,  enables 
us  to  appreciate  its  intensity. 

Induced  Currents. 

In  1832,  Prof.  Faraday  discovered  that  an  electric  current  or  a 
magnet  is  able  by  induction  to  develop  at  a  distance  electric  cur- 
rents in  a  conducting  wire ;  just  as  a  body  charged  with  static 
electricity  electrizes  an  insulated  conductor  by  induction.  The 
following  is  the  mode  by  which  this  remarkable  result  is  ob- 
tained. 

We  wind  round  a  wooden  cylinder  two  silk-covered  wires, 
so  as  to  make  two  perfectly  similar  helices,  the  spirals  of  which 
are  parallel,  and  as  near  to  each  other  as  possible.  The  two 
ends  of  one  of  the  wires  are  made  to  communicate  with  a  gal- 
vanometer, and  the  two  ends  of  the  other  with  the  two  poles  of 
a  battery.  At  the  moment  when  this  latter  communication  is 
established,  the  first  having  been  established  previously,  the 
needle  of  the  galvanometer  is  seen  to  deviate ;  but  this  deviation 
immediately  ceases,  even  though  the  current  of  the  battery  con- 
tinues to  circulate.  As  soon  as  this  current  is  interrupted,  the 
needle  of  the  galvanometer  a  second  time  experiences  a  sudden 
and  more  permanent  deviation;  but  this  deviation  occurs  in  a 
contrary  direction  to  that  in  which  the  former  had  occurred. 
Thus  the  voltaic  current  that  traverses  one  of  the  wires  deter- 
mines in  the  other  an  instantaneous  current  at  the  moment  when  it 
commences  to  pass,  and  determines  it  in  a  second  at  the  moment 
when  it  ceases  to  pass.  These  two  currents  are  called  induced 
currents,  and  the  current  of  the  battery  the  inducing  current; 


48  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

the  induced  currents,  as  we  see,  are  instantaneous :  let  us  further 
add,  that  the  former  has  a  direction  contrary  to  that  of  the  in- 
ducing current,  and  the  latter  a  similar  direction. 

This  experiment  proves  that,  when  we  suddenly  bring  near  to 
a  part  of  a  conductor,  forming  a  closed  circuit,  a  conductor  trav- 
ersed by  a  current,  we  determine  in  the  former  an  instantaneous 
current,  moving  in  a  direction  contrary  to  that  of  the  current 
brought  near  to  it ;  and  that  when  we  remove  it,  we  determine  a 
second  instantaneous  current,  moving  in  the  same  direction  with 
the  current  that  is  removed. 

The  intensity  of  the  induced  currrent  depends  on  many  cir- 
cumstances :  first,  on  the  length  and  diameter  of  the  wires  of  the 
helices ;  and  then  on  the  energy  of  the  inducing  current,  or  the 
strength  of  the  magnet.  In  general,  it  is  advantageous  to  take 
very  long  wires,  and  even  to  add  several  helices  end  to  end,  one 
after  the  other ;  but  if  we  are  not  producing  the  induction  with 
a  magnet,  it  is  necessary  to  employ  an  inducing  current  arising 
from  a  battery  of  a  great  many  pairs. 

Magneto-Electric  Machines. 

We  have  just  seen  that  magneto-electric  induction  is  a  remark- 
able source  of  dynamic  electricity.  We  may  therefore  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  in  order  to  produce  electric  currents,  as  we  use 
friction  in  the  electrical  machine  for  developing  static  electricity. 

The  first  magneto-electric  machine  was  constructed  by  Fara- 
day ;  but  the  one  in  general  use  at  the  present  time  was  designed 
by  Saxton,  and  perfected  by  Clarke.  This  apparatus  (Fig.  29) 
consists  of  a  powerful  horseshoe  magnet,  fixed  horizontally ;  an 
armature  of  soft  iron  having  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  and  each 
branch  of  which  is  surrounded  by  a  wire  covered  with  silk,  is  set 
in  rotation  before  the  magnetic  poles  by  means  of  a  horizontal 
axis  passing  between  the  branches  of  the  magnet,  and  which  is 
itself  moVed  by  means  of  a  wheel.  An  endless  cord,  passing  at 
once  round  the  circumference  of  the  wheel  and  the  groove  of  a 
pulley  fixed  on  the  axis  by  its  centre,  serves  to  communicate  mo- 
tion. The  two  branches  of  the  armature,  which  is  fixed  trans- 


MAGNETISM. 


49 


versely  to  the  extremity  of  the  axis,  are,  for  each  turn  of  the  wheel, 
both  made  to  pass  successively  before  the  two  poles  of  the  magnet. 


Fig.  29. 

At  each  passage  there  is  magnetization,  anct^fe^<jfoffnjtyy 
opment  in  the  ambient  wire  of  two  induced  currents  in  contrary 
directions.  Hence  it  follows,  that  in  all  there  are  four  currents 
in  each  of  the  two  wires  for  one  complete  rotation  of  the  wheel. 
If  we  compare  each  induced  current  in  one  of  the  wires  with 
the  current  induced  in  the  other  at  the  same  instant,  —  that 
is  to  say,  at  the  instant  of  magnetization  or  at  the  instant  of 
demagnetization,  —  we  shall  remark  that  these  currents  must  be 
moving  in  contrary  directions,  because  the  poles  of  the  magnet  to 
whose  influence  they  are  due  are  of  a  contrary  name.  In  order 
that  they  may  add  to,  instead  of  neutralizing,  each  other,  we 
must  connect  together  the  two  ends  of  each  of  the  wires  whence 
the  current  seems  to  proceed,  and  the  two  ends  at  which  it 
seems  at  the  same  time  to  enter.  These  four  ends,  thus  united 
two  and  two,  present  now  only  two  extremities,  which  are  like 
species  of  poles,  and  which  are  to  be  united  by  the  body  destined 
to  be  placed  in  the  route  of  the  induced  currents.  We  may 
also  unite  one  of  the  extremities  of  one  wire  with  the  corre- 
sponding extremity  of  the  other,  so  that  the  two  wires  shall  form 
but  a  single  one,  traversed  entirely  by  each  of  the  induced  cur- 
5  D 


50  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

rents  developed  in  both  wires.  It  is  necessary  that,  in  the  same 
instant,  the  two  currents  simultaneously  induced  should  have  the 
same  direction,  which  is  obtained  by  properly  selecting  the  two 
extremities  that  are  put  in  communication,  and  which  we  have 
called,  in  order  to  express  this  idea,  the  correspondent.  The 
two  extremities  that  are  not  united  form  in  this  case  the  two 
poles.  The  currents  that  are  obtained  by  means  of  the  mag- 
neto-electrical machine  differ  from  the  ordinary  currents  of  vol- 
taic electricity  in  two  respects :  the  first  is,  that  they  are  dis- 
continuous; the  second,  that  they  move  alternately  in  opposite 
directions.  It  is  to  the  former  of  these  two  circumstances  that 
the  remarkable  intensity  of  the  physiological  effects  is  due. 
(Fig.  30.)  The  chemical  and  calorific  effects  that  may  be  pro- 


Fig.  30. 


duced  by  means  of  these  induced  currents,  by  one  as  well  as  by 
the  others,  are  very  energetic.  We  can  ignite  a  platinum  wire, 
and  can  even  obtain  a  small  luminous  arc  between  two  points  of 
coke.  The  chemical  effects  are  very  decided  at  the  first  instant ; 
but  the  two  gases  liberated  alternately  at  the  two  wires  of  the 
voltameter  very  soon  re-combine,  and  the  chemical  power  is  in 
appearance  diminished. 


MAGNETISM.  51 

Electro- Static  Effects  of  Electro-Dynamic  Induction. 

Induction  by  currents  and  magnets  not  only  gives  rise  to  dy- 
namic electricity,  but  produces  the  electro-statical  effects  of  ten- 
sion ;  induced  currents  may  themselves  become  inducing  currents, 
and  give  rise  to  induced  currents  of  another  order.  A  current  of 
magnetic  induction  is  able  to  produce  sparks  at  a  distance  in  the 
air,  and  powerfully  to  charge  a  condenser  ;  consequently,  a  current 
of  induction  can  be  entirely  transformed  into  static  electricity. 

This  important  principle,  which  Faraday  discovered,  has  been 
verified  by  experiments  made  upon  a  very  large  scale  by  MM. 
Masson  and  Breguet,  and  which  are  the  more  conclusive  as  the 
source  of  the  electricity  which  they  employed  for  producing  the 
induction  was  a  current  or  a  magnet,  and  not  the  electricity  of 
tension. 

A  very  excellent  instrument  for  illustrating  these  effects  is  the 
Ruhmkorff  Induction  Apparatus  (Fig.  31),  by  which  almost  all 


Fig.  31. 


the  effects  of  static  or  frictional  electricity  are  produced  from  the 
galvanic  battery. 


52  PRELIMINARY  NOTIONS. 

The  power  of  this  instrument  is  immensely  greater  than  that 
of  the  largest  electrical  machine;  one  sufficient  to  throw  the 
spark  three  inches  has  been  found  to  evolve  a  quantity  of  elec- 
tricity equal  to  that  which  could  be  produced  by  eight  hundred 
machines  of  twenty-four  inches'  diameter.  It  is  not  affected  by 
the  state  of  the  atmosphere.  The  battery  used  is  Grove's  or 
Bunsen's,  of  one  to  four  cells. 

The  apparatus  consists  of  a  primary  coil  of  large  copper  wire, 
surrounding  a  bundle  of  iron  wires,  mounted  upon  a  basement. 
A  secondary  coil  or  helix,  of  fine  silk-covered  wire,  from  one  to 
ten  miles  in  length,  is  wound  upon  a  cylinder  of  thick  gutta-per- 
cha (each  layer  of  which  is  insulated),  which  surrounds  a  glass 
bell  or  cylinder,  closed  at  the  top.  The  glass  bell,  with  the  coil, 
is  placed  over  the  primary  coil ;  the  terminals  of  the  wire,  enclosed 
in  rubber  tubes,  lead  to  insulated  pillars,  and  the  discharges  pass 
between  platina  points ;  or  the  current  is  conducted  by  wires  to 
other  apparatus  to  show  its  effects. 

The  current  from  the  battery  is  received  through  wires  by  pole 
cups  in  connection  with  the  primary  helix,  and  passes  through  an 
interrupter  or  break-piece ;  within  the  basement,  and  connected 
with  the  interrupter,  is  placed  a  condenser  of  alternate  strata  of 
oiled  silk  and  tin-foil. 

In  treating  upon  the  subject  of  submarine  cables  for  tele- 
graphic purposes,  we  shall  show  that  the  principal  difficulty  at- 
tending the  working  of  extended  subaqueous  lines  arises  from 
static  induction.  This  will  be  particularly  manifest  in  the  phe- 
nomena observed  in  connection  with  the  Atlantic  Cable. 


The  following  works  have  been  consulted  in  relation  to  sub- 
jects treated  upon  in  this  part  of  the  work :  — 

Treatise  on  Electricity,  by  Aug.  de  la  Rive.     Vols.  I,  II.,  and  III. 

Cours  theorique  et  pratique  de  Telegraphic  Electrique,  par  E.  E. 
Blavier,  Inspecteur  des  Lignes  Telegraphiques.  Paris.  1857. 


PART   II. 

GENERAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    THE    ELECTRIC 
TELEGRAPH. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  rapid  communication  of  intelligence  between  points  more 
or  less  distant  is  the  object  to  be  attained  in  constructing  the 
Electric  Telegraph. 

A  single  signal  repeated  at  intervals  from  one  station,  and 
which  can  be  easily  observed  at  another,  suffices  to  compose  an 
alphabet  or  vocabulary. 

The.  electric  current  can  be  transmitted  upon  an  insulated  con* 
ductor  to  a  great  distance,  with  sufficient  intensity  to  produce 
marked  effects,  thus  fulfilling  marvellously  all  the  anticipations  of 
ancient  and  modern  times  for  the  instantaneous  communication  of 
thought. 

A  system  of  electric  telegraph  consists  of  an  insulated  wire 
conductor  uniting  two  stations ;  a  galvanic  battery  to  generate  the 
electric  fluid ;  an  apparatus  to  transmit  the  current  upon  the  line, 
called  a  key  or  manipulator ;  and  an  instrument  to  observe  the 
passage  of  the  current,  called  a  receiver. 

We  have  seen,  in  a  previous  chapter,  that,  in  order  to  have  an 
electric  or  galvanic  current,  it  is  necessary  that  both  poles  of  the 
battery  should  be  united  by  a  conductor.  In  the  preceding  illus- 
trations, this  conductor  has  been  a  metallic  one  ;  and,  in  order  to 
have  both  poles  of  the  battery  united  which  should  be  employed 
to  communicate  between  distant  points,  it  is  evident  that  there 
must  be  two  wires,  —  one  connecting  with  the  positive  pole,  for 
5* 


54  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF 

example,  which  should  extend  to  a  distant  point,  and  a  return 
wire  connecting  with  the  negative  pole.  This  establishes  the 
circuit ;  and  the  two  electricities  are  obliged  to  traverse  the  en- 
tire length  of  the  wire  in  order  to  be  neutralized  by  each  ofher. 
The  first  telegraph  lines  were  constructed  in  this  manner ;  that 
built  between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  in  1844,  contained  an 
entire  metallic  circuit. 

However,  it  was  subsequently  ascertained  that  the  earth  itself 
formed  an  excellent  substitute  for  the  return  wire,  and  that  it  was 
only  necessary  to  bury  the  two  ends  of  the  wire  at  the  termini  of 
the  lines  at  a  suitable  depth  in  the  earth,  to  form  an  excellent 
circuit. 

This  important  discovery,  as  far  as  voltaic  electricity  is  con- 
cerned, was  made  in  the  following  manner. 

M.  Gauss  had  conceived  the  idea  that  the  two  rails  of  a 
railway  might  be  employed  as  conductors  of  the  current  for  the 
electric  telegraph.  Steinheil,  having  made  some  experiments, 
with  a  view  to  realizing  Gauss's  idea,  upon  the  railroad  from 
Nuremberg  to  Fiirth,  was  unable  to  obtain  an  insulation  of  the 
rails  sufficiently  perfect  for  the  current  to  reach  from  one  station 
to  the  other ;  the  great  conductibility  with  which  on  this  occasion 
he  remarked  that  the  earth  was  endowed,  caused  him  to  presume 
that  it  would  be  possible  to  employ  it  as  a  conductor,  which  would 
enable  him  to  dispense  with  one  of  the  conducting-wires  between 
the  two  stations.  The  trials  that  he  made  to  test  the  accuracy 
of  this  conclusion  were  followed  by  perfect  success ;  and  he  then 
introduced  into  electric  telegraphy  one  of  its  greatest  improve- 
ments, both  in  regard  of  the  economy  produced  by  the  suppres- 
sion of  one  of  the  conducting-wires,  and  of  the  facility  resulting 
from  it  for  the  establishment  of  great  telegraphic  lines. 

The  transmission  of  electricity  by  the  earth  had  already  been 
accomplished  by  a  great  number  of  philosophers,  but  M.  Steinheil 
was  the  first  who  proved  the  fact  for  voltaic  electricity,  and  with 
•the  view  of  its  application  to  telegraphy.  The  conductor  of  the 
telegraph  constructed  at  Munich  in  1837  consisted  of  a  copper 
wire,  terminated  at  its  extremities  by  two  plates  of  copper 
buried  in  the  earth  ;  the  current  traversed  this  distance  with  the 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  55 

greater  facility  in  proportion  as  the  surface  of  the  buried  plates 
was  increased.  Mr.  Alexander  Bain,  of  Edinburgh,  in  1842, 
made  a  great  number  of  experiments  upon  the  conductibility  of 
the  ground,  chiefly  with  a  view  to  employing  the  earth  as  a  moist 
conduction  interposed  between  the  zinc  and  copper  plates  of  a 
pair ;  he  satisfied  himself  that  a  tolerably  strong  and  very  con- 
stant current  was  thus  obtained.  Mr.  Bain  afterwards  succeeded 
in  employing  this  current  in  order  to  make  electric  clocks  go. 
M.  Gauss  had  before  this  observed  the  appearance  of  an  electric 
current  in  a  wire  placed  in  communication  with  the  ground  by 
large  metal  surfaces  fixed  at  its  extremities.  Mr.  Wheatstone 
made  also,  at  very  nearly  the  same  period,  a  great  number  of 
experiments  upon  the  same  subject,  by  studying  the  propagation 
of  tjie  current  through  the  water  of  the  Thames.  The  philoso- 
pher who  first  contributed  by  his  labors,  as  ingenious  as  they 
were  persevering,  to  give  to  electric  telegraphy  its  present  prac- 
tical character,  is  without  doubt  Mr.  Wheatstone.  This  illus- 
trious philosopher  was  led  to  this  result  by  the  researches  that 
he  had  made  in  1834  upon  the  velocity  of  electricity,  —  re- 
searches in  which  he  had  employed  insulated  wires  of  several 
miles  in  length,  and  which  had  demonstrated  to  him  the  pos- 
sibility of  making  voltaic  and  magneto-electric  currents  pass 
through,  circuits  of  this  length.  In  1837,  in  the  month  of  June, 
Mr.  Wheatstone  took  out  his  first  patent.  He  first  employed 
five  conducting-wires  between  two  distant  stations,  acting  upon 
five  magnetized  needles,  the  movements  of  which,  being  com- 
bined two  and  two,  enabled  him  to  produce  several  different 
signs.  Mr.  Wheatstone  at  this  time  entered  into  partnership 
with  Mr.  Cooke,  who  had  likewise  devised  an  ingenious  tele- 
graphic apparatus  founded  upon  the  same  principles.  The 
English  philosophers,  from  the  very  first,  had  added  to  the 
telegraph,  properly  so  called,  an  apparatus  intended  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  observers,  and  designated  by  the  name  of  ala- 
rum. It  is  a  bell  that  sounds  under  a  hammer,  the  detent  of 
which  is  suddenly  released  by  the  action  of  a  temporary  mag- 
net of  soft  iron,  upon  which  the  electric  current  is  made  to  act. 
Here  the  current  no  longer  acts  in  an  immediate  manner  in  order 


5(5  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF 

to  produce  the  motion,  but  it  is  confined  to  magnetizing  by  its 
passage  a  piece  of  soft  iron;  this  temporary  magnet  attracts 
another  small  piece  of  soft  iron,  which  prevented  the  action 
of  a  permanent  spring ;  the  scapement  thus  -becomes  free,  and  a 
clock  movement  causes  the  hammer  to  move  which  strikes  the 
bell.  Great  service  has  been  likewise  derived  from  this  very 
ingenious  process  for  telegraphy  itself.  The  principle  upon 
which  it  is  founded  includes  an  immense  number  of  applica- 
tions, for  it  enables  man  to  put  in  action  at  any  distance  what- 
ever all  the  forces  of  mechanics,  instantaneously.  Indeed,  more 
recently  Mr.  Wheatstone  applied  it  to  the  construction  of  his 
dial  telegraph;  and  it  is  the  same  principle  which  serves  as 
the  basis  of  Morse's  telegraph,  invented  at  nearly  the  same 
period. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  detailed  study  of  those  telegraphs,  the 
merits  of  which  have  been  sanctioned  by  practice,  and  which  are 
universally  adopted,  we  will  just  refer  to  the  electro-physiological 
telegraph  of  M.  Vorselmann  de  Heer,  founded  upon  the  em- 
ployment of  the  shocks  which  the  passage  of  the  current  brings 
about  in  one  or  other  of  the  ten  fingers  of  an  observer.  The 
latter,  at  a  given  signal,  must  place  the  fingers  of  both  his  hands 
upon  the  ten  keys  of  a  finger-board,  which,  by  means  of  ten 
wires,  communicate  with  the  keys  of  another  finger-board,  upon 
which  a  second  observer  makes  his  fingers  to  act.  The  ob- 
server who  transmits  the  signals  takes  the  precaution  of  pro- 
tecting his  fingers  with  gloves,  in  order  not  to  receive  the  shock, 
which  is  to  be  detected  only  by  the  other  observer.  The  advan- 
tage of  this  system  is  to  require  the  employment  merely  of  fine 
wires ;  but  ten  are  necessary,  which  is  a  great  inconvenience. 
There  is  also  another  disadvantage,  which  is  that  the  force  of  the 
current  employed  for  transmitting  the  signals  must  necessarily 
vary  with  the  sensibility  of  the  observer  who  receives  them. 

"We  are  now  about  to  pass  on  to  the  examination  of  the  prin- 
cipal electric  telegraphs,  dwelling  upon  those  only  which  are  now 
in  use  upon  the  principal  telegraphic  lines.  We  have  previously 
remarked,  that  in  every  telegraphic  system  there  are  three  dis- 
tinct parts :  the  apparatus  intended  for  transmitting  and  regis- 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  57 

tering  the  despatches,  or  the  telegraphic  instruments  ;  the 
conductors  intended  for  establishing  the  desired  communications 
between  the  transmitting  and  receiving  apparatus ;  and,  finally, 
the  batteries  which  produce  the  electricity,  which  are  almost  ex- 
clusively voltaic  piles,  but  in  some  cases  magneto-electric  induc- 
tion-machines, after  the  manner  of  those  of  Clarke,  which  we 
have  described  in  the  First  Part  (page  48).  We  shall  not  dwell 
upon  this  matter  here,  but  confine  ourselves  to  mentioning,  in 
reference  to  each  telegraphic  system  that  we  shall  be  called 
upon  to  describe,  what  the  apparatus  is  that  produces  the  elec- 
tricity employed  to  set  it  in  action. 

There  are  three  grand  divisions  into  which  the  manifestations 
of  the  electric  current  may  be  separated,  each  of  which  gives 
us  several  different  methods  of  telegraphing ;  namely,  the  electro- 
magnetic, the  electro-thermal,  and  the  electro-chemical. 

Upon  the  first  of  these  three  divisions  —  the  electro-magnetic  — 
are  based  the  Morse,  House,  Hughes,  Combination,  and  all  dial 
and  printing  systems.  Upon  the  second,  that  of  Home's  igniting 
telegraph ;  and  upon  the  third,  Bain's  chemical. 

The  needle  telegraph,  so  extensively  used  in  Great  Britain,  is 
founded  upon  the  deviating  action  exercised  by  the  current  upon 
the  magnetized  needle. 

Although  all  systems  of  the  electric  telegraph  which  have  been 
put  in  successful  operation  belong  to  one  of  the  three  grand  di- 
visions of  magnetic,  thermal,  or  chemical,  yet  they  are  subdivided 
by  the  several  distinct  principles  upon  which  they  work  into  the 
timing,  for  the  Morse  ;  the  step-by-step  printing,  for  the  House, 
and  the  several  dial  instruments,  which  will  be  described  here- 
after ;  and  the  synchronous  printing,  for  the  Hughes  and  Com- 
bination. 

As  the  Morse  system  is,  after  Steinheil's,  the  first  recording 
telegraph  invented,  and  is  at  the  present  time  the  most  exten- 
sively used  in  this  country  and  throughout  the  world,  it  should  of 
course  be  the  first  to  claim  our  attention  in  an  article  treating 
upon  the  history  and  progress  of  the  invention. 

There  has  been  much  controversy,  for  many  years  past,  be- 
tween men  of  science  and  others,  upon  the  question  whether  Pro- 


58  .GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

fessor  Morse  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  originating  and  perfecting 
the  instrument  .which  bears  his  name.  It  seems  to  be  generally 
conceded  that  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  of  Boston,  gave  Pro- 
fessor Morse  the  first  ideas  respecting  an  electric  telegraph,  dur- 
ing a  voyage  at  sea  in  the  packet-ship  Sully,  in  1832.  Nothing 
practical  resulted,  however,  from  Professor  Morse's  experiments 
until  1837 ;  and  it  was  not  until  Daniell's  and  Grove's  batteries 
were  perfected,  in  1843,  that  sufficient  galvanic  force  could  be 
obtained  to  work  the  telegraph  to  any  distance. 

Although  there  is  in  Morse's  system  very  little  which  can 
really  be  justly  claimed  as  invented  by  him,  yet  he  has  the  merit 
of  having,  by  inflexible  perseverance,  combined  and  improved 
upon  the  invention  of  others  to  such  a  degree  that,  in  1837,  out 
of  upwards  of  sixty  competitors  in  the  discovery  of  the  electric 
telegraph,  he  seems  to  have  reached  the  most  desirable  result 
for  public  and  private  use.  And  it  is  certain  that,  whatever 
opinion  may  be  formed  in  this  country  respecting  the  merits 
of  the  several  rival  inventions  which  have  been  brought  before 
the  public  within  the  past  twelve  years,  there  has  certainly 
been  nothing  invented  in  Europe  to  equal  the  Morse  system, 
either  in  simplicity,  rapidity,  or  reliability.  To  verify  this  asser- 
tion, we  will  simply  mention  the  fact  that  the  Morse  instrument 
has  superseded  all  others  in  France,  Germany,  Denmark,  Sweden, 
Turkey,  Russia,  and  to  a  great  extent  in  England.  It  is  also 
used  exclusively  in  Australia,  India,  South  America,  California, 
Canada,  and  all  the  British  Provinces ;  and  has  recently  been 
introduced  into  the  royal  palace  of  the  Emperor  of  Japan.  It 
may,  therefore,  justly  claim  to  be  considered  the  universal  tele- 
graphic system  of  the  world. 

Electricity  exercises  the  power  of  attraction  and  repulsion. 

Produces  a  spark. 

Gives  a  shock. 

Charges  a  Leyden  jar. 

Has  a  healing  power. 

Produces  chemical  decomposition. 

Deflects  a  magnetic  needle. 

Produces  magnetism. 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  59 

By  nearly  all  of  these  manifestations  of  the  imponderable  fluid 
it  is  possible  to  construct  an  electric  telegraph. 

Thus,  in  1816,  Ronalds  constructed,  ajt  Hammersmith,  in  Eng- 
land, a  telegraph,  which  depended  for  its  action  upon  the  deflec- 
tion of  a  pith-ball  by  the  electric  discharge. 

Lesage,  in  1774,  employed  a  pith-ball  electrometer,  as  the 
basis  of  his  telegraph. 

Lomond,  in  1787,  employed  a  pith-ball  electrometer  as  a  re- 
ceiver for  his  system  of  electric  telegraph. 

Betancourt,  in  1787,  used  a  battery  of  Leyden  jars. 
Reizen,  in  1794,  employed  the  power  of  the  electric  current  to 
produce  sparks,  by  which  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  cut  upon  tin- 
foil, were  rendered  visible. 

Cavallo,  in  1795,  used  the  number  of  sparks  to  designate  the 
various  signals,  and  the  explosion  of  gas  for  an  alarum. 

Soemmering  employed,  in  1809,  the  electric  current  to  decom- 
pose water,  by  which  letters  were  designated. 

Dr.  Coxe,  in  1810,  proposed  both  the  decomposition  of  water 
and  of  metallic  salts. 

Ampere,  in  1820,  employed  the  magnetic  needle,  the  deflec- 
tions of  which  by  the  electric  current  indicated  letters.  He 
proposed  to  have,  at  every  station  from  which  intelligence  was 
to  be  sent,  a  galvanic  battery,  with  all  necessary  keys  for  put- 
ting the  battery  in  communication  with  the  wires,  and  to  have 
at  the  points  where  intelligence  was  to  be  received  as  many 
magnetic  needles  as  there  were  letters  required  to  be  denoted. 
Each  letter  was  placed  upon  a  different  needle,  and  the  nee- 
dles were  surrounded  with  coils  of  wire  in  metallic  communi- 
cation with  the  wires  extending  between  the  stations.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  upon  the  transmission  of  a  current  of 
electricity  through  any  one  of  these  coils,  the  needle  would  move, 
and  with  it  the  letter,  and  thus  letter  after  letter  would  be  de- 
noted. 

Dyar,  in  1827,  used  litmus-paper,  which  was  decomposed  by 
electric  sparks. 

Schilling,  in  1832,  employed  the  deflective  power  of  the  cur- 
rent upon  magnetic  needles. 


60  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

Gauss  and  "Weber,  in  1833,  used  magneto-electricity  to  deflect 
a  needle. 

Vorselmann  de  Heer  constructed  an  electro-physiological  tel- 
egraph, founded  upon  the  employment  of  the  shocks  which  the 
passage  of  the  current  brings  about  in  the  fingers  of  an  ob- 
server. 

Steinheil,  in  1837,  invented  an  electric  telegraph,  using  but 
one  wire,  and  one  or  two  magnetic  needles. 

Masson's  telegraph,  invented  in  1837,  employed  magneto-elec- 
tricity in  conjunction  with  magnetic  needles. 

Morse's  telegraph,  invented  in  1837,  makes  use  of  the  direct 
magnetic  effects  of  the  electric  current. 

Bain's  telegraph,  invented  in  1840,  uses  the  electro-chemical 
effects  of  the  current. 

Horn's  telegraph  uses  the  electro-thermal,  or  heating  power  of 
the  current. 

Thus,  we  perceive,  eight  separate  and  distinct  manifestations 
of  the  effects  of  the  electric  fluid  have  been  made  use  of  in  con- 
structing electric  telegraphs.  We  shall  see,  however,  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapters,  that  only  two  of  these,  namely,  the  deviating 
influence  exercised  by  the  electric  current  upon  a  magnetized 
needle,  and  the  electro-magnetic  influence  exercised  upon  soft 
iron,  are  used  to  any  extent  in  any  part  of  the  world  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  The  electro-chemical  telegraph  has  been  extensively 
used  in  this  country,  and  competed  successfully  with  the  magnetic 
for  several  years,  but  it  has  been  withdrawn  in  consequence  of 
the  consolidation  of  the  rival  companies. 

The  electric  telegraph  is  the  most  wonderful  application  of  that 
science  by  which  man  is  gradually  extending  his  control  over 
nature.  Electricity  is  a  very  familiar  agent,  —  in  the  lightning, 
in  the  hair  of  animals,  in  the  crackling  of  silk.  It  is  also,  where 
unseen,  a  central  power,  endowing  matter  with  a  large  proportion 
of  its  chemical  and  mechanical  properties.  Electricity  is  also 
itself  capable  of  assuming  a  variety  of  forms,  as  in  the  electrical 
machine,  the  galvanic  battery,  and  the  electro-magnet. 

The  telegraph  is  made  possible  by  three  remarkable  properties 
or  laws  of  electricity,  viz. :  — 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  61 

First.  Electricity  seeks  always  an  equilibrium  in  its  distribu- 
tion through  matter.  If  there  is  an  excess  in  one  place,  it  always 
seeks  to  transfer  itself  to  other  places,  where  there  is  less,  or  a 
deficiency. 

Second.  The  production  of  electricity,  from  whatever  source, 
is  always  twofold,  or  in  two  directions,  one  surface  or  part  of  our 
apparatus  becoming  always  positive,  while  another  becomes  nega,- 
tive  ;  thus  suggesting  the  idea  of  a  gain  on  one  side,  and  loss  on 
the  other,  of  a  corresponding  amount  of  electricity, — in  other 
words,  of  a  disturbance  of  equilibrium.  Thus  the  rubber  and 
prime  conductor  of  the  electrical  machine,  the  platina  and  zinc 
plates  of  the  battery,  and  the  antimony  and  bismuth  of  the 
thermo-electric  pair,  become  respectively  electro-positive  and 
electro-negative,  as  the  first  condition  and  fact  of  electrical  ex- 
citement. 

Third.  Different  substances  have  very  different  conducting 
powers  for  electricity,  some  permitting  its  passage  with  slight 
resistance,  while  others,  called  insulators,  completely  bar  its 
progress.  The  effect  of  this  law,  applied  to  the  preceding  ones, 
is  to  make  it  possible  to  insulate  electricity  in  our  apparatus  in  its 
two  opposite  conditions 'of  positive  and  negative;  when,  by  its 
tendency  to  equilibrium,  a  current,  according  to  our  common 
modes  of  expression,  will  pass  from  the  positively  excited  body 
to  the  negatively  excited  body,  by  means  of  any  conductor,  as,  for 
example,  the  telegraph  wire,  which  we  may  please  to  interpose 
between  the  two. 

The  practical  utility  of  the  telegraph  will  depend  upon  the 
completeness  of  the  insulation  and  the  conduction  in  different 
parts  of  the  apparatus,  upon  the  quantity,  force,  and  rate  of  travel 
of  the  electricity  employed,  and  the  means  which  we  have  of 
observing  and  registering  its  passage. 

The  Leyden  jar  illustrates  well  the  possible  extremes  of  con- 
duction and  insulation  which  we  may  employ.  It  consists  of 
glass,  perhaps  not  more  than  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  thick,  which 
is  coated  on  the  outside  and  inside  with  tin-foil.  When  charged, 
these  coatings  become  excited  —  one  electro-positive,  the  other 
electro-negative — -to  an  intense  degree.  If  a  conductor,  of  a 
6 


62  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

length  almost  without  limit,  be  made  to  form  a  circuit  connecting 
these,  the  electricity  will  traverse  its  whole  extent,  rather  than 
cross  the  slight  barrier  interposed  by  the  thickness  of  the  glass. 

In  the  galvanic  battery  we  have  the  same  contrast  between 
insulation  and  conduction  in  a  less  degree.  A  platina  plate  may 
be  placed  at  half  an  inch  distance  from  a  zinc  plate,  in  an  acid 
or  saline  solution ;  and  yet  the  current  excited  will  traverse  a 
metallic  conductor  of  hundreds  of  miles,  disposed  in  a  circuit  so 
as  to  connect  the  plates,  rather  than  cross  the  solution  of  only 
half  an  inch  which  intervenes.  In  this  case,  however,  the  ob- 
stacle to  the  passage  of  the  electricity  is  not  only,  or  chiefly,  the 
bad  conducting  power  of  the  solution  compared  with  that  of  the 
wire,  but  an  electrical  relation  of  the  liquid  to  the  plates,  which 
is  the  original  occasion  of  the  current,  and  which  resists  its  pas- 
sage in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  originally  imposed  upon  it. 
Indeed,  the  energy  of  the  current  which  flows  through  the  long 
conductor  is  increased,  rather  than  diminished,  by  approximating 
the  plates  until  they  are  separated  only  by  a  slight  film  of  fluid. 
A  saline  solution  is  a  much  better  conductor  for  electricity  than 
water ;  but  a  recent  estimate  of  the  conducting  power  of  pure 
water,  compared  with  an  equal  area  of 'copper  wire  for  galvanic 
electricity,  places  it  at  the  enormous  disproportion  of  one  to  a 
million. 

Electricity  from  different  sources  is  characterized  by  pecu- 
liarities which  affect  materially  its  application  to  the  telegraph. 
The  electricity  from  the  common  machine,  by  which  the  Leyden 
jar  is  charged,  is  called  free  electricity,  and  is  in  the  same  condi- 
tion as  lightning.  It  is  accumulated  only  on  the  surface  of  insu- 
lated bodies ;  its  tension  is  so  great  that  it  will  pass  off  to  a  neigh- 
boring conductor  through  a  considerable  interval  of  air,  thus 
producing  the  phenomenon  of  the  spark;  the  quantity  of  its 
current  is  so  small  as  to  produce  comparatively  slight  chemical 
or  mechanical  effects  ;  it  is  insulated  with  difficulty,  and  conducted 
by  a  metal  with  hardly  appreciable  loss.  In  the  galvanic  bat- 
tery, on  the  other  hand,  the  current  is  conducted  by  the  whole 
mass  of  the  conducting  material  or  wire  ;  its  tension,  or  force, 
may  be  so  low  as  to  be  resisted  and  rapidly  overcome  by  the  best 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.   (  63 

conductors,  while  it  is  insulated  by  almost  all  non-metallic  sub- 
stances in  the  solid  state,  such  as  wood.  Meanwhile,  its  quantity 
is  so  great  as  to  be  capable  of  producing  the  most  powerful  me- 
chanical and  chemical  effects.  As  will  be  mentioned  hereafter, 
means  exist  of  multiplying  to  a  certain  extent  the  intensity  or 
force  of  the  single  galvanic  pair,  by  which  it  becomes  the  most 
efficient  means  of  exciting  electricity  for  the  purposes  of  the 
telegraph. 

Another  condition  of  the  practical  usefulnesss  of  the  telegraph 
is  the  rate  of  travel  of  electricity,  which,  on  examination,  proves 
to  be  an  almost  instantaneous  transfer  of  influence.  Thus,  Wheat- 
stone  determined  the  rate  of  free  electricity  to  be  288,000  miles 
a  second.  This  would  require  about  six  minutes  to  traverse  the 
space  between  the  earth  and  the  sun,  or  a  somewhat  shorter  pe- 
riod than  that  required  by  light  to  perform  the  same  journey.  It 
may  be  observed  here,  that  in  the  transmission  of  messages  we 
are  apt  to  consider  the  distance  traversed  by  electricity  as  that 
existing  between  the  two  stations  of  the  telegraph,  whereas  it  is 
double  that  distance ;  a  circuit,  as  it  is  technically  called,  being 
always  necessary,  —  two  conductors  being  required,  one  upon 
which  the  electricity  goes  out,  the  other  upon  which  it  returns. 

The  mode  by  which  the  rate  of  motion  of  electricity  was  obtained 
by  Wheatstone  is  so  curious,  that  it  deserves  to  be  described.  He 
caused  the  electricity  from  the  common  machine  to  pass  through 
a  long  coil  of  insulated  wire,  in  which  were  two  or  more  breaks 
across  which  sparks  must  necessarily  pass.  A  mirror  was  made 
to  revolve  with  immense  rapidity  before  this  coil.  The  reflection 
of  the  sparks  was  thus  thrown  occasionally,  when  the  mirror  was 
in  the  right  position,  upon  a  canopy  above,  graduated  in  equal 
divisions.  The  reflection  of  one  of  the  sparks  was  found  always 
to  lag  behind  the  other,  on  account  of  the  time  occupied  by  the 
electricity  in  passing  through  the  intervening  portion  of  the  coil, 
the  effect  of  which  was  multiplied  by  the  revolving  mirror.  The 
length  of  the  coil  between  the  breaks  and  the  rate  of  revolution 
of  the  mirror  being  known,  and  the  distance  of  the  reflected 
sparks  from  each  other  being  observed,  the  rate  of  motion  of  the 
electricity  was  easily  calculated. 


64  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  determination  applies  only  to  free 
electricity.  The  electricity  of  the  galvanic  battery,  which  in- 
volves in  its  passage  a  change  or  vibration  in  all  the  particles  of 
the  conductor,  may  easily  have  a  different  rate,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  brilliant  experiments  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey 
of  the  last  two  years  it  has  been  found  that  in  reality  its  velocity 
is  much  less.  It  is  stated  by  Mr.  Sears  C.  Walker  that  the  rate 
of  galvanic  electricity,  obtained  by  simultaneous  observations  at 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  with  the  astronomical  clock,  in 
connection  with  the  telegraph,  and  subsequently  on  the  line  be- 
tween Washington  and  St.  Louis,  is  approximately  18,700  miles 
in  a  second.  It  would,  therefore,  require  one'  and  one  third 
seconds  for  the  galvanic  current  to  traverse  a  wire  extending 
round  the  earth.  In  our  ordinary  telegraphic  communications, 
the  time  occupied  by  the  passage  of  the  current  would  be  wholly 
imperceptible. 

The  general  principles  on  which  the  electric  telegraph  depends 
have  thus  been  considered.  They  involve  no  new  facts  or  dis- 
coveries in  science.  Not  only  so,  but,  as  will  be  seen  in  tracing 
its  history,  the  idea  of  the  telegraph  was  deduced  from  these 
principles  at  a  very  early  period,  and  a  conclusive  experiment 
was  tried  before  the  close  of  the  last  century.  The  improve- 
ment which  has  been  made  by  modern  science,  by  which  the 
telegraph  has  become  more  extensively  useful  and  applicable, 
has  been  the  indicating  or  registering  apparatus,  by  which  the 
passage  of  the  electricity  at  the  distant  station  is  noted. 

It  is  evident  that  the  power  of  sending  a  current  of  electricity 
through  a  wire  of  a  hundred  miles  in  length,  however  surprising, 
could  be  of  no  practical  use  unless  the  means  existed  of  observ- 
ing the  passage  of  the  current  in  distant  parts  of  the  circuit. 
Several  of  the  reactions  of  electricity  have  been  employed  for 
this  purpose,  which  will  be  described  hereafter  in  detail.  The 
decomposition  of  water  into  its  constituent  gases  by  the  passage 
of  electricity ;  the  decomposition  of  saline  solutions  in  the  same 
manner,  giving  rise  to  a  change  of  color;  the  passage  of  the 
spark  across  a  short  interval  made  in  the  circuit ;  the  deflection  of 
the  needle  by  the  passage  of  a  current  of  electricity  in  its  neigh- 


THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  65 

borhood;  the  charging  of  an  electro-magnet,  or  the  influence 
exerted  on  a  bar  of  iron  in  the  axis  of  a  coil,  by  which  mechan- 
ical motion  is  produced,  have  been  severally  resorted  to. 

The  mode  of  transmitting  intelligible  signals  by  this  agency 
has  always  consisted  in  sending  either  a  succession  of  instanta- 
neous electrical  impulses,  or  a  current  prolonged  for  some  in- 
stants, measured  by  its  effects  or  by  its  duration.  A  combination 
of  these  signals,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  may  be 
made  to  indicate  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  or  even,  by  an 
ingenious  contrivance,  with  only  a  single  circuit,  to  print  each 
letter  separately. 

To  produce  the  effects  by  which  the  telegraphic  messages  are 
expressed,  it  is  necessary  that  the  electric  current  shall  have  a 
certain  intensity.  Now,  the  intensity  of  the  current  transmitted 
by  a  given  voltaic  battery  along  a  given  line  of  wire  will  de- 
crease, other  things  being  the  same,  in  the  same  proportion  as  the 
length  of  the  wire  increases.  Thus,  if  the  wire  be  continued  for 
ten  miles,  the  current  will  have  twice  the  intensity  which  it  would 
have  if  the  wire  had  been  extended  to  a  distance  of  twenty  miles. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  wire  may  be  continued  to  such  a 
length  that  the  current  will  no  longer  have  sufficient  intensity  to 
produce  at  the  station  to  which  the  despatch  is  transmitted  those 
effects  by  which  the  language  of  the  despatch  is  signified.  The 
intensity  of  the  current  transmitted  by  a  given  voltaic  battery 
upon  a  wire  of  given  length  will  be  increased  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  the  area  of  the  section  of  the  wire  is  augmented. 
Thus,  if  the  diameter  of  the  wire  be  doubled,  the  area  of  its  sec- 
tion being  increased  in  a  fourfold  proportion,  the  intensity  of  the 
current  transmitted  along  the  wire  will  be  increased  in  the  same 
ratio.  The  intensity  of  the  current  may  also  be  augmented  by 
increasing  the  number  of  pairs  of  the  generating  plates  or  cylin- 
ders composing  the  galvanic  battery. 

Since  it  has  been  found  most  convenient  generally  to  use  iron 
as  the  material  for  the  conducting-wires,  it  is  of  no  practical  im- 
portance to  take  into  account  the  influence  which  the  quality  of 
the  metal  may  produce  upon  the  intensity  of  the  current.  Other 
things  being  the  same,  the  intensity  of  the  current  will  be  in  the 
6*  E 


66  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

proportion  of  the  conducting  power  of  the  metal  of  which  the 
wire  is  formed.  Copper  is  the  best  conductor  of  the  metals,  it 
being  seven  times  better  than  iron ;  but,  as  explained  above,  the 
conducting  power  of  the  metal  being  increased  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  the  area  of  the  section  of  the  wire  is  augmented,  it 
becomes  perfectly  easy,  by  increasing  the  size  of  the  iron  wire, 
to  obtain  as  good  a  conductor  as  is  required. 

M.  Pouillet  found,  by  well-conducted  experiments,  that  the  cur- 
rent supplied  by  a  voltaic  battery  of  ten  pairs  of  plates,  trans- 
mitted upon  a  copper  wire  having  a  diameter  of  four  thousandths 
of  an  inch,  and  a  length  of  six  tenths  of  a  mile,  was  sufficiently 
intense  for  all  the  common  telegraphic  purposes.  Now,  if  we 
suppose  that  the  wire,  instead  of  being  four  thousandths  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  has  a  diameter  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  its  diameter 
being  greater  in  the  ratio  of  62£  to  1,  its  section  will  be  greater 
in  the  ratio  of  nearly  4,000  to  1,  and  it  will  consequently  carry  a 
current  of  equal  intensity  over  a  length  of  wire  4,000  times 
greater,  that  is,  over  2,400  miles  of  wire. 

But  in  practice  it  is  needless  to  push  the  powers  of  transmission 
to  any  such  extreme  limits.  To  reinforce  and  maintain  the  in- 
tensity of  the  current,  it  is  only  necessary  to  establish  at  conven- 
ient intervals  along  the  line  of  wires  intermediate  batteries,  by 
which  fresh  supplies  of  the  electric  fluid  shall  be  produced ;  and 
this  may  in  all  cases  be  easily  accomplished,  the  intermediate 
telegraphic  stations  being  at  distances  one  from  another  much  less 
than  the  limit  which  would  injuriously  impair  the  intensity  of  the 
current. 

Having  thus  explained  the  means  by  which  an  electric  current 
can  be  conducted  from  any  one  place  upon  the  earth's  surface 
to  any  other,  no  matter  what  the  distance  between  them,  and  how 
all  the  necessary  or  desired  intensity  may  be  imparted  to  it,  we 
shall  now  proceed  to  explain  the  expedients  by  which  such  a 
current  may  enable  a  person  at  one  place  to  convey  instantane- 
ously to  another  place,  no  matter  how  distant,  signs  serving  the 
purpose  of  written  language,  and  even  language  printed  in  legible 
Roman  letters ! 

It  may  be  briefly  stated,  that  the  production  of  such  signs  de- 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  67 

pends  on  the  power  of  the  agent  transmitting  the  current  to 
transmit,  suspend,  intermit,  divert,  and  reverse  it  at  pleasure. 
These  changes  in  the  state  of  the  current  take  place,  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes,  simultaneously  upon  all  parts  of  the  conducting- 
wire,  to  whatever  distance  that  wire  may  extend ;  for  although 
strictly  speaking  there  is  an  interval  depending  on  the  time  which 
the  current  takes  to  pass  from  one  point  to  another,  that  interval 
cannot  in  any  case  exceed  a  small  fraction  of  a  second. 

Although  there  is  some  discordance  in  the  results  of  experi- 
ments made  to  determine  the  velocity  of  the  current,  they  all 
agree  in  proving  it  to  be  prodigious.  It  varies  according  to  the 
conducting  power  of  the  metal  of  which  the  wire  is  composed, 
but  is  not  dependent  on  the  thickness  of  the  wire.  On  copper 
wire,  its  velocity,  according  to  Professor  Wheatstone's  experi- 
ments, is  288,000  miles,  and  according  to  MM.  Figeau  and  Gonelle, 
112,680  miles  per  second.  On  the  iron  wire,  used  for  telegraphic 
purposes,  its  velocity  is  62,000  miles  per  second,  according  to 
Figeau  and  Gonelle ;  28,500,  according  to  Professor  Mitchell  of 
Cincinnati ;  and  about  1 6,000,  according  to  Professor  Walker  of 
the  United  States  Coast  Survey.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  the 
interval  which  must  elapse  between  the  production  of  any  change 
in  the  state  of  the  current  at  one  telegraphic  station  and  the  pro- 
duction of  the  same  change  at  any  other,  however  distant,  cannot 
exceed  a  very  minute  portion  of  a  second ;  and  since  the  trans- 
mission of  signals  depends  exclusively  on  the  production  of  such 
changes,  it  follows  that  such  transmission  must  be  practically 
instantaneous. 

We  will  here  say  a  few  words  upon  the  important  part  played 
by  the  earth  when  it  is  employed  as  a  conductor  in  the  operations 
of  electric  telegraphy.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  idea  of 
employing  the  earth  as  a  conductor  between  two  telegraphic  sta- 
tions, realized  for  the  first  time  by  Steinheil,  had  permitted  the 
suppression  of  one  of  the  conducting-wires,  and  thus  the  reali- 
zation of  great  economy  and  simplicity  in  practice.  It  was  at 
first  supposed  that  the  ground  played  the  same  part  as  the  con- 
ductor for  which  it  was  substituted,  and  that  there  was  established 
between  the  two  poles  of  the  battery  placed  in  communication 


68  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF 

with  the  earth,  even  when  they  were  at  a  great  distance  apart, 
a  veritable  electric  current,  transmitted  through  all  the  interposed 
conducting  matters,  and  which  the  earth  always  contains  in  greater 
or  less  proportion.  The  terrestrial  globe  cannot  be  considered 
as  being  in  its  nature  so  perfect  a  conductor  as  a  metal ;  but  its 
bad  conductibility  is  found  to  be  more  than  compensated  by  the 
immensity  of  its  section.  We  may  therefore  consider  the  earth 
as  presenting  a  null  resistance  to  conductibility.  MM.  Breguet 
and  Matteucci,  by  various  experiments,  found  that  where  the  cur- 
rent went  by  the  copper  wire  from  Pisa  to  Pontedera,  and  re- 
turned by  the  earth,  its  intensity  was  the  same  as  when  the  two 
poles  of  the  battery  were  immediately  united  by  a  single  copper 
wire  as  long  as  that  -by  which  the  two  stations  were  connected. 
This  experiment,  and  a  great  number  of  other  similar  ones,  enable 
us,  therefore,  to  admit  that  the  resistance  of  the  earth  to  electric 
conductibility  is  null. 

Electric  currents,  we  must  admit,  are  able  to  cross  each  other 
in  all  directions,  and  at  every  instant,  without  affecting  each 
other ;  and  we  must  suppose  that,  between  two  stations  very 
far  apart,  such  as  New  York  and  Buffalo,  there  is  a  series  of  de- 
compositions and  recompositions  of  all  the  interposed  molecules 
of  water ;  and  that  the  positive  electricity,  for  example,  that 
is  introduced  into  the  ground  at  New  York  cannot  be  neutral- 
ized except  by  the  negative  arising  from  the  same  battery,  but 
brought  by  the  telegraph  wire  into  the  ground  at  Buffalo  ;  a  neu- 
tralization going  on  from  molecule  to  molecule  through  all  the  con- 
ducting sections  that  are  found  in  the  terrestrial  globe  between  these 
two  stations.  It  is  likewise  necessary  to  admit,  when  the  positive 
and  negative  poles  of  several  batteries  are  plunged  at  the  same 
time  in  the  ground  at  great  distances  from  each  other,  that  the 
positive  electricity  of  each  pole,  in  order  to  become  neutralized, 
seeks  for  the  negative  electricity  of  the  pole  belonging  to  the 
same  battery,  even  though  this  pole  might  be  much  more  distant 
than  the  negative  of  another  battery.  This  hypothesis  of  the 
predisposition  of  the  two  electricities  to  neutralize  each  other 
only  when  they  arise  from  the  same  source,  appears  to  us  equally 
contrary  to  logic  and  to  observation. 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  69 

We  must  therefore  have  recourse  to  another  explanation  of  the 
part  played  by  the  earth  in  the  phenomena  of  electric  conducti- 
bility,  —  an  explanation  which  flows  very  naturally  from  the  fact 
observed  by  Faraday  and  Wheatstone  with  electric  cables.  This 
fact  is  that  of  a  vast  reservoir;  —  of  a  species  of  drain,  —  which 
sucks  up  and  absorbs  at  the  two  extremities  of  the  wire  the  free 
electricities  which  the  battery,  or  any  apparatus  that  is  the  gen- 
erator of  electricity,  sends  into  it.  By  the  very  fact  that  this 
electricity  is  lost  or  escapes,  there  is  an  electric  movement, 
and  consequently  a  production  of  a  current.  M.  Magrini,  in 
experiments  made  with  long,  well-insulated  telegraph-wires  ex- 
tending from  Milan  to  Menza,  had  already  shown  that  an  electric 
current  might  be  obtained  in  a  wire  of  which  only  one  of  the 
ends  communicated  with  a  source  of  electricity,  whilst  the  other 
remained  insulated.  But  in  this  mode  of  operating  some  defect 
of  insulation  might  be  feared.  This  fear  disappears  in  the  ex- 
periments of  Faraday  and  Wheatstone.  These  latter  very  clearly 
show  us  that  it  is  enough  to  put  into  communication  with  one  of 
the  poles  of  a  battery  the  end  of  a  conductor  of  very  great  dimen- 
sions, the  other  extremity  of  which  is  insulated,  in  order  that  this 
conductor,  in  becoming  charged,  may  be  traversed  by  an  electric 
current,  the  presence  of  which  is  indicated  by  the  deviation  of  the 
needle  of  a  galvanometer.  The  same  phenomenon  takes  place 
with  the  earth,  with  this  difference,  that,  the  terrestrial  globe  being 
a  conductor  of  infinite  dimensions,  the  current  is  able  to  endure 
as  long  as  the  communication  of  the  pole  with  the  ground  takes 
place. 

M.  Matteucci,  who  has  greatly  directed  his  attention  to  the 
conductibility  of  the  earth,  had  made  the  curious  remark,  that, 
when  the  electrodes  are  plunged  into  the  ground  to  a  suitable 
depth,  the  resistance  of  the  interposed  layer  increases  exactly  with 
its  length,  according  to  the  recognized  law  for  ordinary  conduc- 
tors ;  there  is  not  even  any  difference,  when  the  layer  is  very 
thin,  between  its  resistance  and  that  of  the  same  layer  of  earth 
or  water  contained  in  an  insulated  vessel.  But  if  the  distance 
between  the  electrodes  becomes  considerable,  the  resistance  of  the 
terrestrial  bed  diminishes  very  rapidly ;  even  at  the  distance  of 


70  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES    OF 

from  sixty  to  one  hundred  yards,  the  current  ceases  to  diminish  ; 
at  greater  distances  its  intensity  increases  until  it  becomes  equal 
to  that  which  would  be  found  with  the  circuit  entirely  metallic. 
This  result  is  always  verified  for  distances  of  ten  or  twelve  miles. 
The  increase  of  the  current  with  the  length  of  the  terrestrial  bed 
is  independent  of  the  nature  and  form  of  this  bed  ;  it  was  before 
having  arrived  at  the  length  of  the  bed  at  which  the  resistance 
ceases,  that  the  influence  was  observed  of  the  nature  and  form  of 
this  bed  over  this  same  resistance.  This  observation  of  M.  Mat- 
teucci  clearly  shows  us  that  the  earth  is  able  to  play  two  very 
different  parts  in  the  transmission  of  currents.  It  is  able  to  dis- 
charge the  function  of  an  ordinary  conductor  when  the  electrodes 
are  very  near  to  each  other,  —  and  then  the  resistance  which  it 
opposes  to  the  current  increases  with  the  length  of  the  interposed 
terrestrial  bed ;  but  when  the  distance  between  the  electrodes 
attains  to  a  certain  limited  dimension,  the  earth  acts  as  a  res- 
ervoir which  absorbs  the  electricities  liberated  at  each  of  the 
poles  ;  its  resistance  then  disappears,  and  the  intensity  of  the  cur- 
rent depends  on  nothing  more  than  the  resistance  of  the  con- 
ducting-wire  alone;  —  so  that  the  intervention  of  the  terrestrial 
globe  presents  the  double  advantage  of  permitting  the  economy 
of  one  line  wire,  and  of  rendering  the  current  twice  as  strong  as 
it  would  be  were  it  made  to  return  by  the  second  suppressed 
wire. 

The  results  obtained  by  Matteucci  in  his  experiments  have 
been  verified  by  our  own,  in  a  somewhat  different  manner. 

A  telegraph  line  of  one  mile  in  length,  extending  from  the 
counting-room  of  the  Bridgewater  Iron  Works  to  the  works 
themselves,  furnished  with  a  current  of  five  Daniell's  cells, 
had  never  worked  well,  —  the  current  being  always  weak  and 
shaky.  We  were  finally  called  upon  to  solve  the  difficulty,  and 
after  satisfying  ourselves  that  the  connections  were  perfect,  de- 
cided that  the  earth  termini  must  be  imperfect,  not  being  of  suffi- 
cient depth  to  overcome  resistance.  We  accordingly  attached  a 
copper  wire  and  ran  it  into  the  canal,  when  the  intensity  of  the 
current  at  once  increased  to  the  full  amount  desired. 

Subsequently,  upon  our  explaining  to  Mr.  Sprague,  the  opera- 


THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  71 

tor,  the  laws  of  transmission  and  resistance,  —  that  the  resistance 
of  the  earth  was  in  the  inverse  ratio  to  the  surface  of  the  metal 
buried,  —  he  attached  a  plate  of  copper  to  the  wire  and  placed 
that  in  the  canal,  when  he  was  able  to  reduce  the  intensity  of  his 
battery  one  fifth,  and  still  have  a  stronger  current  than  before. 

The  difference  between  what  takes  place  when  the  electrodes 
are  near  together,  and  what  takes  place  when  they  are  far  apart, 
may  seem  extraordinary  at  the  first  moment ;  but  upon  reflection 
we  easily  conceive  that  in  the  former  case  the  molecules  inter- 
posed between  the  two  electrodes,  not  being  so  numerous,  may 
constitute  the  electric  chain  by  the  effect  of  the  mutual  neutrali- 
zation of  their  opposite  electricities,  which  is  preceded  by  their 
polarization.  When  the  electrodes  are  very  distant,  this  commu- 
nication between  them  can  no  longer  take  place ;  and  they  are 
then  discharged,  by  means  of  the  bed  with  which  they  are  in 
contact,  into  the  entire  mass  of  the  terrestrial  globe. 

Besides,  many  other  facts  of  a  different  kind  demonstrate  that 
it  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  obtain  a  current,  to  reunite  the  two 
contrary  electricities  produced  by  the  same  electrical  apparatus ; 
but  that  it  is  sufficient  that  one  of  the  two  electricities  be  ab- 
sorbed. Thus  it  is  that,  when  the  outer  coating  of  a  Leyden  jar 
is  placed  in  communication  with  the  ground,  we  are  able  to  obtain 
a  discharge  in  the  air  similar  to  a  current,  by  furnishing  its  inner 
coating  with  a  point. 

The  part  played  by  the  earth  in  the  transmission  of  tele- 
graphic despatches  is,  therefore,  in  accordance  with  a  very  great 
number  of  phenomena  of  the  same  kind,  which  have  demon- 
strated to  us  that  the  propagation  of  electricity,  and  consequently 
the  production  of  an  electric  current,  may  take  place  in  a  con- 
ducting body,  as  well  when  this  body  is  placed  in  communication 
with  another,  charged  with  an  excess  of  one  of  the  electricities 
only,  as  when  it  is  found  placed  between  two  excesses  of  contrary 
electricities. 

»  When  the  terrestrial  globe  is  employed  for  bringing  about  the 
circulation  of  a  current  in  an  insulated  conductor,  one  of  the 
extremities  of  which  communicates  with  one  of  the  poles  of  a 
battery  and  the  other  with  the  ground,  whilst  the  second  pole  of 


72  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 

the  battery  also  communicates  with  the  ground,  care  must  be 
taken  to  establish  these  communications  well.  With  this  view, 
the  conducting- wires  that  go  to  the  earth  terminate  in  large 
metal  plates,  generally  of  copper,  which  are  also  buried  as  deep 
as  is  convenient  in  wells,  or  in  the  most  moist  parts  of  the 
ground  that  can  be  found.  The  gas  and  water  pipes  of  towns 
are  advantageously  employed  for  obtaining  good  communication 
with  the  earth;  and  iron  fish-jointed  rails  are  valuable  in  country 
stations  especially. 

Upon  nearly  all  telegraph  lines  where  an  intermediate  office 
puts  on  a  ground,  —  that  is,  puts  the  main  wire  in  communication 
with  the  earth,  without  separating  the  main  line,  —  other  stations 
may,  by  adjusting  their  armatures  very  closely,  obtain  what  is 
being  communicated  upon  the  portion  of  the  line  intercepted  by 
the  ground. 

This  is  owing  to  the  imperfect  contact  between  the  ground 
wire  and  the  earth,  a  part  of  the  electric  current  passing  by  the 
ground-wire  sufficient  to  work  a  delicate  relay  magnet. 


List  of  the  principal  works  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this 
chapter :  — 

Treatise  on  Electricity.  Yol.  III.  By  A.  De  la  Rive.  London. 
1858. 

Museum  of  Science  and  Art.  Vol.  III.  By  Dionysius  Lardner. 
London.  1854. 

The  Electric  Telegraph,  its  History  and  Progress.  By  Edward 
High  ton.  London. 

The  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  By  Laurence  Turnbull.  Phil- 
adelphia. 1853. 

Book  of  the  Telegraph.     By  W.  F.  Channing.     Boston.     1858. 


PART    III. 

ELECTRIC    TELEGRAPH    APPARATUS. 


CHAPTER    Y. 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 


IN  1837,  Prof.  S.  F. 
B.  Morse  made  known 
to  the  public  his  record- 
ing telegraph,  which  just- 
ly retains  his  name,  and 
of  which  it  appears  that 
he  had  conceived  the  idea 
as  far  back  as  1832.  Its 
principle  is  very  simple. 
It  requires  but  a  single 
circuit ;  consequently  but 
a  single  insulated  wire, 
and  the  return  by  the 
earth.  At  the  extremity 
of  the  circuit,  where  the 
despatch  is  to  be  received, 
is  an  electro-magnet  (Fig. 
32),  the  wire  of  which 
communicates  by  one  of 
its  extremities  with  the 
ground,  and  by  the  other 
with  the  insulated  wire 
that  serves  as  a  conduc- 
tor between  the  two  sta- 
tions. A  small  soft  iron 
7 


74         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

bar,  called  an  armature,  is  attached  to  a  brass  lever  sustained  in  a 
horizontal  position  by  two  pivots.  The  soft  iron  armature  is 
attached  to  one  end  of  this  lever,  while  the  other  end  is  armed 
with  a  steel  point,  which  is  called  a  pen.  Under  the  point  of  the 
pen  travels  on,  with  a  uniform  motion,  a  band  of  paper,  which  is 
moved  by  means  of  mechanism  analogous  to  clock-work  (Fig.  33). 


Fig.  33.' 

At  the  extremity  of  the  circuit  whence  the  despatch  sets  out  is 
a  battery,  one  of  the  poles  of  which  communicates  with  the 
ground,  whilst  the  other  pole  may  be  put  at  pleasure  into  com- 
munication with  the  insulated  wire,  by  which  the  two  stations  are 
connected.  If  the  circuit  is  closed  —  that  is,  whole  —  the  arma- 
ture of  the  electro-magnet  is  attracted,  through  the  magnetism 
created  in  the  helix  by  the  passage  of  the  electric  current ;  and 
this  attraction  causes  the  point  of  the  pen  to  touch  the  paper,  and 
to  trace  upon  it  a  line,  the  length  of  which  depends  upon  the 
duration  of  time  in  which  the  circuit  remains  whole.  If  the  cir- 
cuit is  opened,  the  current  ceases  to  flow,  the  magnetism  disap- 
pears instantly,  and  a  spring  attached  to  the  lever  draws  it  away 
from  the  paper,  and  the  line  ceases.  If  the  circuit  is  opened  and 
closed  rapidly,  there  are  produced  upon  the  paper  simple  dots, 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM. 


75 


the  number  of  which  depends  upon  the  number  of  times  that  the 
circuit  is  interrupted  and  established.  The  blank  space  by  which 
the  points  and  the  lines  are  separated  is  greater  in  proportion  as 
the  circuit  remains  open  for  a  longer  time.  We  therefore  see 
that  we  may  at  pleasure,  by  acting  at  one  of  the  stations,  trace 
upon  the  paper  which  is  unrolled  at  the  other,  a  succession  of 
points  or  lines,  separated  by  blank  intervals,  which  may  be  com- 
bined in  very  various  manners,  in  order  to  give  rise  to  signs  cor- 
responding to  the  different  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  to  the 
various  figures  of  arithmetic.  The  complete  registering  instru- 
ment is  shown  in  Fig.  34.  Here  we  have  a  spool,  on  which 


Fig.  34. 

the  strip  of  paper  is  wound,  and  clock-work,  with  rollers,  which 
give  the  strip  a  steady  motion  onwards  under  the  pen  upon  the 
lever  of  the  electro-magnet. 

The  recording  apparatus  depends  upon  the  combination  of 
two  essentially  different  parts ;  one  consists  of  a  lever,  which, 
when  it  is  lowered,  presses  upon  a  sheet  of  paper  a  steel  point 
(Fig.  35)  with  which  it  is  furnished.  This  lever  is  depressed  by 
means  of  the  electro-magnet,  which  attracts  the  armature  fixed  to 
the  levers;  every  time  that  the  current  passes  in  the  wire  of 
ic  electro-magnet,  the  armature  draws  the  lever  to  which  it  is 
:ed,  and  thus  produces  the  pressure  of  the  point  against  the 


76 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


paper.     A  screw  under  the  end  of  the  lever  projecting  beyond 
the  electro-magnet  serves  to  limit  the  play  of  the  armature,  and 


Fig.  35. 

a  helical  spring  attached  to  the  under  side  of  the  lever  compels 
it,  by  its  elasticity,  to  separate  itself  from  the  electro-magnet, 
when  the  current  ceases  to  act,  which  causes  the  point  no  longer 
to  press.  The  other  part  of  the  apparatus  is  intended  to  cause  a 


Fig.  36. 


long  band  of  paper  to  pass  under  the  point  with  a  uniform  ve- 
locity, which  paper  is  rolled  upon  a  cylinder  (Fig.  36),  or,  as  is 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 


77 


generally  the  case  in  the  telegraph  offices,  it  is  put  into  a  long 
narrow  box,  and  after  passing  through  the  instrument,  or  register, 
passes  into  a  similar  box,  which,  when  full,  is  transferred  to  the 
place  occupied  by  the  first  box,  and  is  run  through  the  register 
again.  By  means  of  an  adjustable  slide,  attached  to  the  feeding 
rollers,  which  serve  to  draw  the  paper  along,  the  paper  can  be 
moved  at  pleasure  to  either  side  of  the  rollers,  thus  admitting  of 
its  being  used  many  times.  In  fact,  it  is  not  unfrequently  the 
case  that  the  same  roll  of  paper  is  made  to  pass  through  the 
register  as  many  as  twenty  times,  thus  making  a  large  saving,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  in  the  matter  of  paper.  Two  springs 
retain  the  upper  cylinder  pressed  against  the  lower  cylinder, 
which  is  set  in  motion  by  a  clock-movement,  by  means  of  a 
weight,  for  which,  in  some  cases,  an  ordinary  spring  has  been 
substituted  with  advantage.  The  paper  is  drawn  on  between  the 
two  cylinders  by  the  motion  of  the  lower  cylinder,  and  thus 
passes  under  the  point.  In  order  that  this  point  may  leave  a 
proper  mark  upon  the  paper,  one  of  the  rollers  is  grooved,  to  cor- 
respond with  the  steel  point;  therefore,  when  the  lever  is  at- 
tracted by  the  electro-magnet,  the  pen,  reaching  the  paper, 
presses  it  against  the  groove,  which  produces  a  distinct  mark. 
If  the  pen  presses  upon  the  paper  for  a  short  time  only,  it  pro- 
duces a  dot  merely  ;  if  it  acts  for  a  longer  time,  it  makes  a  dash ; 
it  is  able  therefore  to  mark  dots  and  dashes,  which,  as  we  have 
said,  is  sufficient  for  forming  a  complete  alphabet. 

The  transmitting  apparatus  is  a  very  simple  contrivance  of 
a  lever  and  anvil  ( Fig.  37), 
designed  simply  for  the 
more  easy  opening  and  clos- 
ing the  circuit  than  could 
be  done  by  holding  the  ends 
of  a  wire  in  the  hand,  which, 
however,  is  often  resorted 
to  when  despatches  are  sent 
from  places  where  there 
happens  to  be  no  appara- 
tus. Fig.  38  represents  a  signal  key,  as  usually  used  upon  the 


78 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


lines  in  this  country.     It  consists  of  a  lever  mounted  on  a  hori- 
zontal axis,  with  a  knob  of  ivory  for  the  hand  at  the  extremity  of 


Fig.  38. 

the  long  arm,  which  is  at  the  left  in  the  cut.  This  lever  is 
thrown  up  by  a  spring,  so  as  to  avoid  contact  with  the  button  on 
the  frame  below,  except  when  the  lever  is  depressed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  completing  the  circuit.  A  regulating  screw  is  seen  at 


Fig.  39. 

the  extremity  of  the  short  arm  of  the  lever  (Fig.  39)  which 
graduates  precisely  the  amount  of  motion  of  which  it  is  at  any 
time  capable. 

We  are  thus  able,  by  resting  with  the  finger  upon  the  ivory 
knob,  to  close  or  break  the  circuit  at  pleasure;  if  the  contact 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM.  79 

between  the  hammer  and  the  anvil  is  produced  for  a  very  short 
time  only,  the  current  will  pass  in  the  circuit  only  during  this 
instant ;  by  maintaining  it,  upon  the  contrary,  for  a  longer  time, 
the  current  will  be  able  to  pass  during  the  whole  time  in  the 
telegraphic  wire. 

Where  a  long  circuit  is  used,  the  resistance  to  conduction, 
measured  by  the  amount  of  electricity  which  passes,  is  very  great. 
The  diminution  of  the  current  is  most  sensible  when  tested 
through  the  first  few  miles  of  wire,  the  amount  which  subse- 
quently passes  appearing  nearly  constant  for  a  long  distance.  It 
is  not,  however,  sufficient,  in  its  electro-magnetic  effects,  to  work 
one  of  Morse's  registers  directly.  The  current,  which  has  trav- 
ersed a  great  length  of  wire,  can  only  move  the  lever  of  the  elec- 
tro-magnet sufficiently  to  bring  a  platina  point  in  contact  with  a 
little  platina  disc  placed  opposite  to  it,  so  as  to  complete  the  cir- 
cuit of  a  local  battery,  which  works  the  register  with  energy. 
This  is  the  principle  of  combination  of  circuits,  and  constitutes 
the  important  invention  of  the  receiving  magnet  and  relay  or  local 
battery,  as  they  are  familiarly  known  in  connection  with  Morse's 
telegraph. 

The  effect  of  the  combination  of  circuits  is  to  enable  a  weak  or 
exhausted  current  to  bring  into  action  and  substitute  for  itself  a 
fresh  and  powerful  one.  This  is  an  essential  condition  to  obtain- 
ing useful  mechanical  results  from  electricity  itself,  where  a  long 
circuit  of  conductors  is  used,  and  accordingly  it  received  the 
attention  of  early  experimenters  with  the  telegraph.  This  prin- 
ciple seems  to  have  been  first  successfully  applied  by  Professor 
Joseph  Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  in  the  latter  part 
of  1836.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  ring  large  bells  at  a  distance, 
by  means  of  a  combined  telegraphic  and  local  circuit.  In  the 
early  part  of  1837,  Wheatstone,  in  England,*  used  a  combining 
instrument,  which  consisted  of  a  magnetic  needle,  so  arranged  as 
to  dip  an  arch  of  wire  into  two  mercury  cups,  when  deflected  by 
a  feeble  current,  thus  completing  the  circuit  of  a  local  battery, 
which  struck  a  signal-bell.  Davy  patented  in  England,  in  1838, 

*  London  Repertory  of  Patent  Inventions,  1839,  Vol.  XL 


80 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


a  system  of  combined  circuits,  for  four  different  purposes  con- 
nected with  his  telegraph.     He  brought  into  action  a  local  circuit, 


1st,  to  discolor  or  dye,  by  electro-decomposition,  the  calico  on 
which  he  registered  his  signs ;  2d,  to  actuate  an  electro-magnet 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM.  31 

regulating  the  motion  of  the  calico  ;  3d,  to  direct  the  long  or  tele- 
graphic circuit  to  either  of  two  branches,  by  means  of  a  receiving 
instrument  placed  at  their  point  of  meeting,  and  operated  upon 
from  a  distance  ;  4th,  he  provided  for  a  complete  system  of  relays 
of  long  circuits.  His  instrument  resembled  Wheatstone's,  only 
the  contact  was  made  by  two  surfaces  of  metal,  without  the  use 
of  mercury. 

The  receiving  magnet  (Fig.  40)  used  by  Professor  Morse  is  a 
very  slight  modification  of  his  register,  the  platina  point  for  com- 
pleting the  local  circuit  being  substituted  for  the  marking  point. 
The  magnet  is  surrounded  with  helices  of  fine  wire,  which  mul- 
tiply the  effects  of  the  feeble  current,  and  the  whole  instrument 
is  constructed  with  delicacy.  By  Morse's  patent  of  1840,  this  is 
applied  to  the  combination  of  long  circuits,  or  the  relay  of  cur- 
rents ;  and  by  his  patent  of  1846,  it  is  applied  to  operating  the 
register  by  a  local  or  office  circuit.  The  electro-magnet,  armature, 
and  lever,  constituting  the  chief  part  of  both  these  instruments, 
is  simply  the  electro-magnet  of  Professor  Henry,  described  by 
him  in  1831. 

The  relay  is  a  very  essential  apparatus  in  Morse's  telegraphic 
system,  and  is  also  applied  to  many  other  purposes  of  a  similar 
kind.  The  object  of  the  relay  is,  when  the  current  of  a  battery 
transmitted  to  a  great  distance  by  a  telegraphic  wire  is  too  feeble 
to  cause  the  receiving  apparatus  to  act  in  a  direct  manner,  to 
employ  this  current  to  cause  the  more  powerful  current  of  a  local 
battery  to  act  upon  the  apparatus,  —  a  function  which  requires  but 
very  little  force  in  the  current.  Now  the  receiver  in  the  Morse 
telegraph  requires,  in  order  to  its  acting,  a  very  energetic  cur- 
rent, and  at  least  the  employment  of  very  powerful  batteries, 
which  would  be  very  expensive,  and  frequently  very  troublesome  ; 
it  cannot  be  made  to  act  by  a  current  transmitted  from  one  station 
to  the  other.  Recourse  is  therefore  had  to  the  relay  (Fig.  41), 
which  consists  of  an  electro-magnet,  the  wire  of  which  is  placed 
by  the  extremities  in  communication  with  the  telegraphic  line  ; 
so  that  this  electro-magnet  operates  under  the  action  of  the  cur- 
rent transmitted  from  one  station  to  the  other.  The  soft  iron 
armature  is  attached  to  a  lever  movable  around  the  axis ;  the 


82 


ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


extremity  is  moved  between  two  screws,  one  of  which  is  termi- 
nated by  an  ivory  point,  and  the  other,  entirely  metallic,  commu- 


nicates by  means  of  a  metal  column  and  a  wire  conductor  with 
one  pole  of  a  local  battery ;  the  other  pole  of  this  battery  commu- 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM.  83. 

nicates,  by  the  intervention  of  the  wire  of  the  electro-magnet  of 
the  registering  apparatus  and  of  the  spring,  with  the  metal  lever. 
When  the  telegraphic  circuit  is  opened,  the  electro-magnet  does  not 
act,  and  the  extremity  of  the  lever  rests  against  the  ivory  point 
by  the  effect  of  the  spring ;  but  if  the  circuit  is  closed  at  the  de- 
parting station  the  armature  of  the  relay  is  attracted,  touches  the 
metal  point,  and,  the  circuit  of  the  local  battery  being  closed,  the. 
receiving  apparatus  of  the  arrival  station  is  able  to  act.  The 
screws,  between  which  the  armature  vibrates,  as  it  is  alternately 
drawn  forward  by  the  magnet  or  back  by  the  spring,  serve  as 
adjusters,  also,  to  the  armature.  When  the  current  upon  the 
line  is  very  feeble,  it  is  necessary  to  place  the  armature  very  near 
the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet  in  order  that  it  may  be  influenced 
by  it.  When  the  current  is  strong,  the  armature  is  placed  far- 
ther off.  There  is  also  another  contrivance  for  accomplishing  the 
same  object,  namely,  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  armature. 
This  consists  of  a  carriage,  upon  which  the  helices  rest ;  a  long 
screw  running  under  the  carriage,  and  projecting  underneath  and 
in  the  rear  of  the  helices,  serves  to  draw  the  carriage  backward 
and  forward,  and,  of  course,  by  this  means  to  increase  or  decrease 
the  distance  between  the  armature  and  the  poles  of  the  electro- 
magnet, at  pleasure.  This  improvement  has  been  made  within 
the  past  few  years  in  this  country,  but  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  adopted  in  Europe  as  yet. 

The  object  of  these  "  adjusting  screws,"  as  they  are  called,  is 
to  bring  about  a  proper  adjustment ;  that  is  to  say,  to  place  the 
armature  at  that  distance  from  the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet 
where  it  is  under  the  control  of  the  current  between  the  station 
receiving  and  the  station  transmitting  a  despatch.  Now,  the 
resistance  of  a  telegraphic  wire  is  in  proportion  to  its  length  and 
size,  and  the  earth  being  a  conductor  of  such  immense  surface  as 
to  present  no  resistance  whatever  to  the  current,  it  follows  that 
upon  a  long  telegraphic  circuit  there  is  a  constant  tendency  for 
the  current  upon  the  line  to  pass  off  into  the  earth ;  this  passage 
of  the  current  into  the  earth  we  call  "  escape."  There  are  no 
lines  in  the  world,  probably,  —  certainly  none  in  the  United 
States, — whose  insulation  is  so  perfect  as  not  to  be  more  or 


84          ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

less  affected  by  this  escape.  It  is  much  greater  during  wet 
weather ;  but  all  lines  are  more  or  less  affected  at  all  times.  We 
shall  have  occasion  to  treat  upon  this  subject  at  length,  when  we 
come  to  discuss  the  very  important  subject  of  insulation ;  we  only 
allude  to  it  here  in  order  to  explain  more  fully  the  uses  of  the 
adjusting  apparatus,  and  what  constitutes  a  proper  adjustment  for 
all  conditions  of  the  line. 

The  strength  of  a  telegraphic  current  depends  upon  the  inten- 
sity of  the  battery  employed  and  the  amount  of  resistance  which 
the  conductor  presents.  Thus,  if  we  have  a  battery  of  fifty 
Grove  cups,  with  a  line  well  insulated,  we  can  work  a  relay,  or 
sensitive  electro-magnet,  a  distance  of  eight  hundred  miles,  with 
considerable  force,  or  at  least  with  sufficient  power  to  close  a 
local  circuit  with  ease ;  but  if  we  apply  this  battery  to  a  line  of 
fifty  miles  in  length,  we  obtain  sufficient  power  to  work  the  reg- 
ister. The  discrepancy  between  the  force  with  which  it  operates 
the  two  electro-magnets  is  due  to  the  resistance  which  the  two 
lines  present,  the  resistance  being  in  proportion  to  the  length  of 
the  circuit.  During  very  wet  weather,  however,  unless  the  line 
be  very  well  insulated,  a  great  portion  of  the  current  escapes ; 
and  it  sometimes  happens  that  a  battery  of  fifty  cups  of  Grove 
can  scarcely  affect  the  armature  of  a  sensitive  electro-magnet  at 
a  distance  of  even  one  hundred  miles,  the  remainder  of  the  cur- 
rent escaping,  a  little  at  each  pole,  during  this  entire  length  of 
line.  The  usual  arrangement  upon  telegraph  lines  is  to  have 
relays  of  batteries  distributed  at  intervals  of  about  one  hundred 
miles,  in  order  the  more  equally  to  distribute  the  current. 

We  will  now  suppose  a  telegraph  line  of  one  hundred  miles  in 
length,  with  four  stations  at  equal  distances  of  twenty-five  miles. 
The  batteries  are  placed  at  both  termini,  twenty-five  cups  at  each. 
During  dry  weather,  when  the  line  is  tolerably  well  insulated, 
one  adjustment  of  the  armature  serves  for  all  the  stations  upon 
the  line,  and  does  not  require  alteration  during  the  entire  day ; 
but  if  there  comes  up  a  rain,  causing  considerable  escape,  the 
attraction  of  the  electro-magnet  increases,  because  there  is  less 
resistance,  the  current  finding  a  shorter  cut,  through  the  earth,  to 
its  starting-point.  Now,  as  the  magnetism  increases  from  this 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM.  35 

escape,  the  armature  must  be  adjusted  farther  from  the  poles  of 
the  magnet,  —  far  enough,  in  fact,  to  allow  for  all  the  magnetism 
which  arises  from  this  escape,  —  in  order  to  be  affected  by  the 
breaking  of  the  circuit  at  the  second  station.  If  the  escape  is 
equal  upon  the  whole  length  of  the  line,  it  follows  that  the  arma- 
ture would  have  to  be  adjusted  from  the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet 
as  much  farther  for  the  second  station  as  the  escape  was  more  than 
usual,  double  the  distance  for  the  third,  and  three  times  the  dis- 
tance for  the  fourth.  An  operator  requires  experience  and  skill 
in  working  a  line  during  a  heavy  escape,  and  it  is  not  unfre- 
quently  the  case  that  two  good  operators  will  do  a  large  amount 
of  business  over  a  telegraph  line  during  a  heavy  storm,  when 
inferior  operators  would  be  unable  to  transmit  a  single  despatch. 

In  a  line  of  telegraph  of  several  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles, 
any  number  of  receiving  magnets  may  be  interspersed,  as  they 
do  not  interrupt  the  circuit ;  but  the  introduction  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  these  fine-wire  electro-magnets  increases  the  resistance, 
thereby  requiring  batteries  of  greater  intensity  (greater  number 
of  pairs),  and  also  a  more  thorough  system  of  insulation.  Each 
one  of  these  relay  magnets  may  work  a  local  register,  and  thus 
the  same  message  may  be  recorded  at  a  multitude  of  places 
practically  at  the  same  moment  of  time.  If  the  receiving  mag- 
net is  to  effect  a  relay  of  currents,  the  motion  of  its  lever  brings 
into  action  a  powerful  battery  on  the  spot,  which  works  the  next 
receiving  magnet  in  succession,  and  so  on. 

The  use  of  the  receiving  magnet,  however,  for  the  purpose  of 
relay  of  the  galvanic  force,  may  be  dispensed  with  by  simply  in- 
creasing the  number  of  pairs  and  distributing  them  in  groups 
along  the  line.  Thus  Mr.  Sears  C.  Walker,  of  the  Coast  Sur- 
vey, writes  :  "  We  have  made  abundant  experiments  on  the  line 
from  Philadelphia  to  Louisville,  a  distance  in  the  air  of  nine 
hundred  miles,  and  in  circuit  of  eighteen  hundred  miles.  The 
performance  of  this  long  line  was  better  than  that  of  any  of  the 
shorter  lines  has  hitherto  been.  I  learn  from  an  authentic  source, 
that  the  same  success  attends  the  work  from  Philadelphia  to  St. 

Louis,    A    DISTANCE    IN    CIRCUIT    OP     ONE    TWELFTH     OP    THE 

EARTH'S  CIRCUMFERENCE.     The  number  of  Grove's  pint  cups 
8 


36          ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

used  is  about  one  for  every  twenty  miles.  It  is  natural  to  con- 
clude from  this  experiment,  that,  if  a  telegraph  line  round  the 
earth  were  practicable,  twelve  hundred  Grove's  pint  cups,  in  equi- 
distant groups  of  fifties,  would  suffice  for  the  galvanic  power 
for  the  whole  line.  The  expense  of  acids  for  maintaining  this 
line  would  be  about  five  mills  per  day  for  each  cup,  or  six  dol- 
lars per  day  for  the  whole  line."  This  distribution  of  the  gal- 
vanic agency  is  frequently  adopted  in  the  mode  of  placing  one 
half  of  the  necessary  number  of  pairs  at  each  extremity  of  the 
line. 

It  is  easy  for  us  now  to  represent  the  manner  in  which  commu- 
nication is  made  between  two  stations.  It  is  necessary  that  there 
should  be  at  each, —  1st,  a  principal  battery,  called  a  main  battery, 
and  a  local  battery ;  2d,  a  writing  apparatus ;  3d,  a  relay  ;  4th,  a 
lever-key.  The  lever-key  at  each  station  communicates  in  a  per- 
manent manner  with  the  ground,  by  means  of  a  conductor;  it  com- 
municates also,  by  another  conductor  connected  with  the  anvil,  with 
one  of  the  extremities  of  the  wire  of  the  electro-magnet  of  the  re- 
lay, the  other  extremity  of  which  is  connected  with  one  of  the  poles 
of  a  battery,  whose  other  pole  connects  with  a  line  wire.  It  fol- 
lows from  this  arrangement,  that  if  the  lever-key  of  the  second 
station  is  lowered,  the  principal  current  of  this  station  causes  the 
relay  of  the  former  to  act,  since  its  circuit  is  complete.  The  cur- 
rent, indeed,  coming  from  one  of  the  poles  of  the  principal  bat- 
tery, arrives  at  the  metai  piece  of  the  relay,  where  it  finds  the 
end  of  the  line  wire,  traverses  this  wire,  then  arrives  at  the  me- 
tallic piece  of  the  relay  of  the  former  station,  traverses  the  wire 
of  the  electro-magnet  of  this  relay,  arrives  at  the  screw  of  the 
lever-key,  thence  goes  into  the  ground,  whence,  returning  to  the, 
second  station,  it  penetrates  by  the  earth  wire  into  the  lever-key 
of  this  station,  which,  being  depressed,  leads  to  the  screw  which  is 
in  communication  with  the  other  pole  of  the  battery. 

M.  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  who  has  so  ably  contributed  to  the 
perfecting  of  the  Electric  Telegraph,  has  found  it  convenient  to 
join  to  the  principal  batteries  of  each  of  the  stations  a  consider- 
able resistance,  the  extent  of  which  might  be  changed  without 
interrupting  the  current.  He  has  accomplished  this  by  means  of 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM.  87 

a  rheostat,  consisting  of  a  very  fine  brass  wire.  By  so  selecting 
this  wire  that  a  length  of  40  feet  presents  very  nearly  the  same 
resistance  as  1 6,000  feet,  or  three  miles  of  the  conductor,  he  suc- 
ceeds, by  brass  wire  of  from  400  to  600  feet  in  length,  in  pro- 
ducing resistances  equal  to  those  of  the  conductors  comprised 
between  two  consecutive  stations,  or  those  which  we  call  partial 
lines.  This  rheostat  is  so  arranged  that,  in  a  very  brief  space  of 
time,  one  is  able  to  introduce  into  the  circuit  resistances  equal  to 
one,  two,  three,  and  up  to  eleven  leagues  of  the  line  wire ;  a  sec- 
ond rheostat  added  to  the  former  allows  of  introducing  likewise 
very  promptly  resistances  equivalent  to  one  tenth  of  those  of  the 
former,  that  is  to  say  to  -j^,  T2<y,  &c.,  of  a  league  of  the  line  wire. 
The  necessity  of  this  introduction  of  a  variable  resistance  into 
the  circuit  is  due  to  the  importance  of  having  a  current  of  con- 
stant force,  in  order  to  act  upon  the  relay ;  seeing  that  the  appa- 
ratus, when  once  adjusted  by  the  tension  of  the  spring,  ceases  to 
act  well,  if  the  current  becomes  more  or  less  intense  than  that 
under  the  influence  of  which  it  has  been  adjusted.  Now,  the 
current  which  sets  the  apparatus  in  motion  is  variable,  for  its 
intensity  depends  upon  the  state  of  the  battery,  which,  even  in 
the  most  constant  batteries,  may  vary,  and  especially  on  the  insu- 
lation of  the  line  wire,  which  changes  with  the  degree  of  hu- 
midity of  the  air  and  of  the  supports.  Every  day,  therefore,  it 
is  necessary  to  vary  the  additional  resistance  arising  from  the 
introduction  of  the  rheostat  into  the  circuit,  so  as  to  have,  as 
much  as  possible,  a  current  always  of  the  same  intensity,  which 
is  determined  by  means  of  a  compass,  surrounded  with  a  galvan- 
ometric  wire,  which  forms  part  of  the  principal  circuit,  and  with 
which  each  station  is  provided. 

The  adjustment  of  the  force  of  the  current  regulates  the  action 
of  the  apparatus ;  and  it  furthermore  enables  us  to  know  the  con- 
dition of  the  whole  of  the  line  ;  for  the  losses  of  current  are  more 
powerful,  and  consequently  the  insulation  of  the  line  wire  more 
imperfect,  in  proportion  as  it  is  necessary  to  increase  the  devia- 
tion of  the  compass  at  the  departure  station  by  diminishing  its 
resistance,  in  order  to  obtain  at  the  other  station  the  deviation 
that  corresponds  to  the  normal  current,  under  the  action  of  which 


88  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

the  apparatus  ought  to  work.  Notwithstanding  the  incontestable 
advantages  of  the  rheostat,  we  shall  however  see,  in  a  moment, 
that  experience  has  shown  that  it  might  be  dispensed  with  with- 
out inconvenience;  and  that  it  is  more  simple  and  convenient 
to  adjust  the  apparatus  every  day,  according  to  the  variable 
intensity  of  the  current,  by  putting  more  or  less  tension  upon  the 
springs  of  the  relays,  and  by  adjusting  the  armatures  by  means 
of  the  adjusting  screws  and  the  adjusting  carriage. 

Before  going  farther  and  pointing  out  by  certain  practical 
details  the  manner  of  using  Morse's  telegraph,  it  is  time  to  make 
known  the  nature  of  the  signs,  or  alphabet,  which  it  has  been 
arranged  to  employ.  As  we  have  already  said,  the  signs  are  two 
in  number,  a  dot  and  a  dash ;  and  it  is  by  numbering  them  two 
and  two,  three  and  three,  and  four  and  four,  that  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  in  all  forty-one  indications,  corresponding  to 
the  letters  in  the  alphabet,  the  numerals,  and  punctuation-marks. 
The  alphabet  is  the  same  in  principle  as  that  employed  by  Har- 
rison Gray  Dyar  in  1828,  and  Prof.  Steinheil  in  1837.  On  the 
opposite  page  is  given  the  table  of  these  combinations,  placed 
side  by  side  with  the  letters,  numerals,  and  punctuation-marks 
which  they  represent. 

.  We  have  seen  that  the  pen  of  the  recording  instrument  is  in 
contact  with  the  paper,  as  long  as  the  lever-key  is  held  down ; 
the  length  of  the  marks  traced  by  the  pen  is  proportional  to  the 
time  of  the  depression  of  the  lever-key,  and  the  interval  between 
two  marks  depends  upon  the  duration  of  the  pauses  between  two 
successive  depressions.  But  the  successive  production  of  dots 
and  dashes  by  the  depression  of  the  key  requires  a  measured 
rhythmic  movement,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  trace  in 
a  regular  manner  the  successive  signs  ;  for  time  is  the  measure 
of  the  length  of  each  sign,  and  it  is  consequently  necessary  to 
employ  the  natural  measure  that  we  possess  for  time,  which  is 
rhythm.  In  order,  therefore,  fairly  to  comprehend  the  action  of 
the  lever-key,  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  one's  self  to  depress  it  in 
time.  With  this  view  we  strike  upon  a  table  with  the  tip  of  the 
forefinger  of  the  right  hand  in  two  different  methods  :  —  1st.  By 
drawing  back  the  finger  with  rapidity,  so  that  it  rests  upon  the 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 


89 


Letters. 

Signs. 

Ciphers  and 
Punctuation- 
Marks. 

Signs. 

a 

-        i 

1 

_  _  —.  - 

b 

•  , 

2 



c 

.  -      -        ,-.v 

3 



d 



4 



e 

. 

5 



£ 

M                      "        "* 

D 

g 



7 



h 



8 



i 

_    _ 

9 



j 



0 



k 



. 



I 



, 



m 



? 



n 



I 



o 

_          _ 

a     » 



/yi 

/     \ 

P 

V      ) 

r 

.          _    _ 

s 

.    .    _ 

t 



u 

_    

V 



w 



X 



y 

--          -- 

z 



table  for  an  instant  only,  and  by  raising  it  only  half  an  inch. 
2d.  By  leaving  the  finger  resting  upon  the  table  for  the  time 
that  separates  two  blows  of  the  first  kind,  and  by  raising  it  for  an 
equal  time.  Each  beat  of  the  first  kind  is  measured  by  the  syl- 
lable di,  which  is  pronounced  while  making  the  beat ;  with 
regard  to  the  beats  of  the  second  kind,  they  are  measured  by 
pronouncing  the  syllables  do-o.  The  beats  that  are  made  while 
pronouncing  the  di  would  produce  dots,  and  those  which  are 
made  while  pronouncing  do-o  would  give  dashes,  if  the  finger  had 
been  rested  on  the  lever-key  that  sets  Morse's  writing-apparatus 
8* 


90          ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

in  action ;  but  it  is  better  first  to  learn  the  use  of  the  telegraph 
without  apparatus,  and  by  merely  accustoming  one's  self  to 
strike  upon  a  table  in  the  manner  that  we  have  pointed  out. 
We  must  then  practise  producing  a  dash  and  two  dots,  then 
two  dots  and  a  dash,  and  so  on,  always  pronouncing  during 
these  movements  of  the  finger  the  syllables  di  and  do-o,  each 
syllable  requiring  to  be  pronounced  at  an  equal  distance  from  the 
following.  We  see  that  intervals  of  equal  times  elapse  between 
two  dots,  from  one  dot  to  the  following  dash,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  dash  to  the  end,  and  from  the  end  of  the  dash  to  the 
first  following  sign.  Each  dot  requires  only  a  single  interval  of 
time,  while  the  dash  requires  two.  In  the  formation  of  the 
groups  that  result  from  the  combination  of  dots  with  dashes  for 
the  representation  of  different  signs,  regard  has  been  had  to  the 
number  of  intervals  of  time,  so  as  to  have  the  fewest  possible. 

After  a  little  practice,  one  easily  succeeds  in  writing  distinctly 
twenty  or  twenty-five  words  in  a  minute,  and  in  reading  with 
the  greatest  facility.  It  is  essential  that  the  lever-key  shall  have 
but  a  very  limited  play  in  order  that  the  do-o,  or  beats  of  the 
lever-key,  when  it  is  lowered  and  raised,  shall  follow  each  other 
at  equal  intervals.  We  succeed  very  quickly  in  distinguishing 
by  the  ear  the  dashes  from  the  dots,  the  lever-key  making  a  noise 
similar  to  tri  tri  tri  for  the  dots,  and  to  do-o  for  the  dashes ;  we 
succeed  also  in  distinguishing  them,  as  well  by  the  action  of 
the  relay  as  by  the  action  of  the  lever  of  the  recording  ap- 
paratus. 

It  will  be  obvious  from  the  above  description  of  the  mode  by 
which  the  letters  are  made  in  this  system,  that  a  good  apprecia- 
tion of  time  is  required  for  a  skilful  operator ;  indeed,  there  is 
very  little  use  in  any  one's  endeavoring  to  excel  as  a  manipula- 
tor unless  he  possess  an  accurate  appreciation  of  time.  We  have 
known  many  persons  to  attempt  to  become  operators,  who  have 
failed  from  a  want  of  the  proper  development  of  this  faculty. 
We  have  in  our  recollection  now,  one  who,  after  many  months' 
application,  was  obliged  to  translate  his  despatch  into  the  arbi- 
trary characters  of  the  telegraphic  alphabet,  upon  a  slate  or  a 
piece  of  paper,  and  then  count  for  the  dashes  and  dots  as  he 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM. 


91 


depressed  the  key,  and  in  this  laborious  manner  to  transmit  his 
despatch ! 

The  description  which  we  have  given  of  the  apparatus  of  the 
Morse  system  is  a  correct  one,  as  it  was  used  in  all  the  offices  for 


many  years  ;  but  since  the  adoption  of  the  method  of  reading  by 
sound,  another  apparatus  has  taken  the  place  of  the  register,  or 
recording  apparatus,  called  the  sounder  (Fig.  42). 


92          ELECTRIC  TELEGEAPH  APPARATUS. 

This  is  simply  an  electro-magnet  attached  to  a  rosewood  or 
mahogany  base,  with  an  armature  attached  to  a  lever ;  the  lever 
is  supported  upon  the  centre  of  its  axis  by  two  pivots.  A  spring 
at  one  extremity  of  the  lever  serves  to  draw  the  armature  from 
its  contact  with  the  two  poles  of  the  electro-magnet,  when  the 
circuit  is  broken.  When  it  is  closed,  the  magnetism  induced  by 
the  current  draws  the  armature  down  with  considerable  force. 
At  the  rear  of  the  helices  there  is  an  upright  brass  rod,  fastened 
also  to  the  board,  upon  which  the  lever  is  made  to  strike.  The 
board  itself  stands  upon  four  metal  or  wooden  balls,  and  is  so  con- 
structed that  the  striking  of  the  lever  upon  the  brass  standard 
causes  a  loud  and  distinct  sound,  which  is  audible,  in  a  quiet 
place,  a  couple  of  rods  distant.  The  brass  standard  contains  an 
adjusting  apparatus,  which  enables  the  operator  at  pleasure  to 
govern  the  sound,  —  making  it  loud  or  soft,  or  giving  it  any  de- 
sired pitch.  No  other  part  of  the  apparatus  has  undergone  any 
change  by  the  substitution  of  the  sounder  (Fig.  43)  for  the 


Fig  43. 

recording  apparatus.  But  there  has  arisen  from  this  a  great  sav- 
ing in  the  force  necessary  for  doing  a  large  business  over  the 
wires,  as  may  be  easily  imagined  from  the  fact  that  only  one  per- 
son is  now  necessary  to  receive  and  copy  despatches  where  two 
were  formerly  required. 

It  was  soon  discovered,  after  the  introduction  of  the  Morse 
system  of  telegraph,  that  words  could  be  read  by  the  click  of  the 
magnet ;  but  paper  was  used,  upon  which  the  arbitrary  alphabet 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM.  93 

of  dots  and  lines  was  indented  by  the  instruments,  for  all  mat- 
ters of  business  up  to  1852,  and  by  many  lines  even  later ;  but 
at  the  present  time  there  is  scarcely  an  office  of  any  importance 
in  the  United  States  where  the  paper  is  used  to  receive  the 
record. 

Ten  years  ago  the  practice  was,  almost  invariably,  in  the  prin- 
cipal offices,  to  employ  an  operator  to  read  the  despatch  from  the 
long  strips  of  paper,  as  it  came  from  the  instrument ;  and  a  copy- 
ist who  stood  by  his  side  took  it  down.  Now,  the  system  is 
entirely  changed.  The  operator  reads  by  the  click,  and  copies 
the  messages  himself.  By  this  means  the  expense  is  lessened 
nearly  one  half,  and  the  risk  of  errors  in  a  far  greater  ratio. 

Repeaters.  —  Although  a  telegraphic  circuit  of  one  thousand 
miles  works  quite  as  well  as  a  shorter  one,  provided  it  be  well 
insulated,  still  it  has  proved  so  difficult  to  accomplish  the  latter 
condition  during  all  states  of  our  variable  weather,  that  shorter 
circuits  have  been  resorted  to ;  and  where  it  has  been  found  de- 
sirable to  transmit  despatches  to  points  more  distant  than  the 
normal  condition  of  the  circuit  would  admit,  there  has  been 
introduced,  at  one  or  more  points  upon  the  line,  an  instrument  or 
an  apparatus  called  a  Repeater. 

Various  kinds  of  repeaters  have  been  devised,  all  possessing 
advantages  and  disadvantages ;  but  the  one  which  is  used  upon 
the  lines  in  this  section  of  the  country,  invented  by  Messxs.  Wood- 
man and  Farmer,  seems  to  answer  the  purpose  well. 

A  repeater  is  an  apparatus  designed  for  the  purpose  of  dupli- 
cating from  one  electric  circuit  to  another  the  breaks  and  com- 
pletions received  from  the  transmitting  station,  for  the  purpose 
of  renewing  the  power  lost  by  the  escape  of  the  electric  fluid  into 
the  earth  through  bad  insulation. 

In  the  earlier  repeaters,  the  armature  of  the  receiving  magnet 
is  made  to  perform  the  functions  of  a  circuit  breaker  and  closer  to 
another  circuit,  the  two  circuits  being  entirely  independent  of 
each  other,  excepting  that  the  breaks  and  completions  on  one  are 
made  by  the  armature  of  the  electro-magnet  which  is  in  the 
other,  and  this  armature  is  controlled  by  the  operator's  key  at 
the  transmitting  station.  This  repeating  arrangement  requires 


94         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

the  attendance  of  an  operator  to  turn  a  switch  to  keep  the  points 
electrically  connected  that  form  a  portion  of  the  circuit  from 
which  despatches  are  being  sent.  Woodman  and  Farmer's  re- 
peater obviates  this  and  other  objections  by  an  ingenious  arrange- 
ment of  detents  and  frictions. 

The  electro-magnetic  part  of  this  apparatus  is  worked  by  local 
circuits ;  consequently  the  relay  in  the  circuit  on  the  left  operates 
by  a  local  battery  the  electro-magnet  on  the  left  of  the  repeater, 
and  the  relay  in  the  circuit  on  the  right  operates  the  electro- 
magnet on  the  right  of  the  repeater. 

The  main  circuit  on  the  left  runs  through  the  relay,  thence  to 
the  front  right  screw-cup,  thence  by  the  spiral  wire  to  the  bind- 
ing screw-head  by  the  standard,  but  insulated  from  it  excepting 
at  the  point  where  it  supports  a  flat  brass  spring ;  then  by  means 
of  the  spring,  which  is  'Supported  a  short  distance  above  the  ar- 
mature of  the  electro-magnet,  to  the  standard  and  back  screw-cup 
on  the  right ;  thence  to  the  battery  and  ground. 

The  circuit  on  the  right  may  be  traced  in  the  same  manner  at 
the  opposite  side  of  the  repeater. 

If  the  flat  spring  on  the  left  be  lifted  from  the  binding  screw, 
which  supports  it,  the  circuit  upon  the  right  will  be  opened,  and 
vice  versa. 

The  local  circuits  are  similar  in  arrangement  to  the  usual  com- 
bination, —  the  armature  and  standard  of  the  relay  in  the  left 
circuit  forming  a  part  of  the  local  circuit  which  works  the  left 
electro-magnet  on  the  repeater,  and  the  armature  and  standard  of 
the  relay  in  the  right  circuit  forming  a  part  of  the  local  circuit 
which  works  the  electro-magnet  on  the  right. 

The  switch  on  the  back  of  the  base  board,  at  the  right,  is  de- 
signed to  break  the  local  circuit  which  works  the  sounder,  and 
close  another  with  the  same  battery  through  the  helix  on  the 
right  of  the  repeater ;  and  the  switch  on  the  left  performs  the 
same  office  for  that  part. 

At  the  top  and  near  the  middle  of  the  framework  are  two 
detents,  projecting  beneath  the  armature  of  the  electro-magnets. 

Projecting  from  the  shaft  of  each  detent  is  an  arm,  situated 
immediately  over  another  arm  in  connection  with  the  armature 
of  the  electro-magnet  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  repeater. 


THE  MORSE   SYSTEM. 


95 


Having  given  an  idea  of  the  construction  of  the  repeater,  we 
will  now  explain  its  modus  operandi. 

The  switches  on  the  front  being  thrown  off  to  allow  the  arma- 
tures to  break  the  circuits,  and  those  on  the  back  being  switched 
so  as  to  form  the  two  local  circuits  through  helices  on  the  re- 
peater, —  now  if  the  main  circuit  on  the  left  be  opened,  the  local 
circuit  is  broken  by  the  relay,  and  the  armature  of  the  electro-mag- 
net on  the  left,  being  released,  is  drawn  up  against  the  flat  spring, 
which  it  lifts  from  the  binding-screw,  breaking  the  main  circuit 
on  the  right.  Before,  however,  the  armature  reaches  the  spring, 
the  arm  attached  to  it  strikes  the  arm  which  projects  from  the 
shaft  of  the  detent  on  the  opposite  side,  throwing  the  detent  under 
the  armature  on  the  right,  which  is  thus  prevented  from  reaching 
the  flat  spring  on  the  right,  and  breaking  the  left  circuit. 


Fig.  44. 


Fig.  45. 


Now  if  the  circuit  on  the  left  be  again  closed,  the  armature  of 
the  repeating  magnet  on  that  side  will  also  close  by  the  action  of 


Fig.  46.  Fig.  47. 

the  relay,  but  the  detent  which  it  threw  under  the  opposite  anna- 


96 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


ture  is  held  there  by  friction  until  the  relay  on  the  right  has  time 
to  operate.  The  circuit  on  the  right  in  closing  closes  the  local 
circuit,  and  releases  the  detent,  which  is  drawn  into  its  original 
place  by  a  spring.  Thus  the  armature  of  the  right  electro-mag- 
net is  prevented  from  making  false  breaks  in  the  circuit  on  the 


Fig.  48. 


left,  it  being  held  by  the  detent  until  it  is  released  by  the  closing 
of  its  own  relay,  which  also  closes  the  repeating  armature. 


Fig.  49.  Fig.  60. 

If  both  circuits  are  closed,  the  armature  that  first  opens  throws 
a  detent  under  the  other  before  opening  the  other  circuit,  and 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 


97 


when  the  circuit  is  to  be  closed,  instead  of  depending  upon  the 
prompt  action  of  the  relay  in  closing  to  prevent  a  false  break, 
the  armature  is  held  by  the  detent  until  the  relay  has  actually 
closed,  which,  closing  the  repeating  armature,  lifts  it  from  the  de- 
tent, which,  being  before  held  by  friction  with  the  armature,  is 
now  drawn  from  under  it. 

Various  apparatus  used  in  telegraph  offices,  such  as  switches, 
screw-cups,  thumb-screws,  &c.,  require  a  passing 
notice.  Fig.  44  represents  a  simple  switch  used 
for  closing  the  circuit,  with  the  key  raised.  Fig. 
45  is  a  switch  for  throwing  on  a  ground  at  an 
intermediate  office,  for  testing  the  line  or  for 
closing  the  main  circuit  when  the  line  is  broken 
beyond.  Fig.  46  is  a  double  switch  for  the  pur- 
pose of  changing  the  directions  of  different  lines.  Fig.  47  is 
used  for  the  same  purposes  as  Fig.  44.  Fig.  48  is  an  instru- 
ment for  bringing  any  number  of  batteries  into  circuit  at  pleas- 
ure, from  one  to  one  hundred  cups.  It  is  arranged  with  a  pole- 
changer,  break-piece,  key,  and  clock-work  electrotome.  It  is 
called  a  manipulator.  Fig.  49  is  a  switch,  designed  for  throwing 
portions  of  the  apparatus  out  of  the  circuit  at  pleasure.  Figs.  50, 
51,  and  52  are  thumb-screws,  designed  for  uniting  wires  tempo- 


Fig.  51. 


Fig.  53. 


Fig.  54. 


rarily  in  the  offices,  or  for  connecting  wires  upon  the  line  at  test- 
ing places.     Fig.  53  is  a  screw-cup,  used  upon  the  copper  end 
of  a  Daniell  battery,  for  the   purpose  of  connecting  the  line 
9  G 


98 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


wire.     Figs.  54  and  55  perform  the  same  office  for  the  zinc  pole 
of  a  Grove  battery. 


Fig.  55.  Fig.  56. 

Fig.  56  represents  a  galvanometer  attached  to  an  electro-mag- 


Fig.  57. 


net.     This  is  an  exceedingly  delicate  permanent  magnet.     The 


THE  MORSE  SYSTEM. 


99 


electro-magnetism  induced  in  the  magnet  cores  repels  the  poles 
of  this  magnet ;  it  swings  on  its  centre  towards  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion, indicating  on  the  graduated  arc  the  force  of  electro-magnet- 
ism. It  will  indicate  a  current  too  feeble  to  vibrate  the  armature, 
and  its  position  with  reference  to  the  electro-magnetic  poles  can 
be  instantly  changed,  so  as  to  make  their  operation  upon  it  always 
repulsive.  A  sliding  weight  upon  it  graduates  its  sensibility. 

Fig.  57  is  an  independent  adjuster  for  magnet  springs,  which 
is  designed  to  screw  into  the  table. 


Fig.  58  represents  binding-screws,  connectors,  &c.,  for  screwing 
to  zincs  of  local  or  main  batteries  as  pole  connections. 


100        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  NEEDLE  SYSTEM. 

THE  essential  part  of  the  needle  telegraph  is  the  multiplier,  the 
needle  of  which,  fixed  vertically  upon  a  horizontal  axis,  moves  in 
front  of  a  dial.  Among  these  telegraphs,  some  are  single-needle ; 
others,  and  they  are  the  more  numerous,  are  double-needle.  The 
single-needle  telegraph  has  an  alphabet  engraved  on  the  right 
and  left  of  the  needle  ;  some  letters  require  as  many  as  four 
movements,  which  may  be  either  all  on  the  same  side,  or  some 
on  one  side  and  some  on  the  other ;  but  it  is  necessary  that  the 
last  movement  of  a  letter  placed  on  the  right  shall  always  be 
to  the  right,  and  that  of  a  letter  placed  to  the  left,  always  to  the 
left.  Thus  W  is  indicated  by  four  movements,  three  to  the  left, 
and  the  fourth  to  the  right ;  L,  by  four  movements,  to  the  right, 
to  the  left,  to  the  right,  to  the  left.  Beneath  each  letter  there  is 
a  sign,  formed  of  one  or  more  right  lines,  inclined  toward  the 
right  or  toward  the  left ;  some  of  these  diagonal  lines  are  entire, 
the  others  have  only  half  the  length;  the  direction  of  the  diag- 
onal is  that  of  the  deviation,  and  one  deviation  is  required  for 
each  diagonal ;  the  deviation  indicated  by  the  demi-diagonal  is 
first  made.  In  order  to  simplify  the  matter,  it  has  been  agreed 
to  proceed  in  the  following  manner :  one,  two,  three,  four  devia- 
tions to  the  left  are  first  employed  for  the  first  four  signals ;  then 
one  to  the  right,  with  one,  two,  three  deviations  to  the  left,  for  the 
three  following  signals ;  then  two  to  the  right,  with  one  to  the 
left ;  then  to  the  left,  the  right,  the  left ;  and  finally  to  the  right 
and  left,  the  right  and  left ;  which  leads  as  far  as  the  letter  L, 
and  thus  completes  the  first  half  of  the  series.  The  second  half 
is  the  counterpart  of  the  first;  the  deviations  to  the  left  are  simply 
replaced  by  deviations  to  the  right,  and  reciprocally.  The  nu- 
merals are  inscribed  under  the  needle ;  and  they  are  indicated 
by  the  movements  of  the  lower  part.  Thus,  in  order  to  show  4, 


THE  NEEDLE   SYSTEM.  101 

the  lower  extremity  of  the  needle  is  carried  once  to  the  right,  atfd 
once  to  the  left. 

The  double-needle  telegraph  differs  from  the  preceding  only 
inasmuch  as  it  is  composed  of  two  multipliers,  instead  of  having 
but  a  single  one.  The  two  needles  are  likewise  arranged  verti- 
cally, each  on  a  horizontal  axis.  The  upper  case  is  occupied  by 
the  bell,  or  alarum.  The  letters  of  the  alphabet  are  arranged 
upon  several  lines,  commencing  at  the  left  and  finishing  at  the 
right,  as  in  ordinary  writing.  The  first  series,  from  A  to  P,  ap- 
pears above  the  points  of  the  needles ;  the  second  series,  from  R 
to  Y,  appears  below  the  points  of  the  needles.  Each  letter  is  in- 
dicated by  one,  two,  or  three  movements.  The  letters  of  the 
upper  series  are  formed  by  the  nearest  needle,  which  is  made  to 
deviate  once,  twice,  or  thrice  on  the  side  where  the  letter  is,  so 
as  to  point  towards  it.  For  the  letters  of  the  lower  series,  both 
needles  are  moved  together,  by  directing  their  lower  ends  towards 
the  letter.  Six  letters,  C,  D,  L,  M,  U,  V,  require  two  contrary 
movements  of  the  needle,  or  of  both  needles  ;  first  to  the  right, 
then  to  the  left,  for  C,  L,  and  U ;  and  first  to  the  left,  then  to 
the  right,  for  D,  M,  and  V.  These  letters  are  engraved  in  small 
capitals,  and  separated  by  double  arrows. 

It  remains  for  us  now  to  make  known  the  internal  arrange- 
ments of  the  needle  telegraph  (Fig.  59).  We  shall  content  our- 
selves, for  the  sake  of  simplicity,  with  describing  that  of  the 
single-needle  telegraph,  the  arrangement  of  the  double-needle 
telegraph  being,  with  a  slight  modification,  almost  entirely  simi- 
lar. The  multiplier  in  these  telegraphs  carries,  as  in  ordinary 
multipliers,  two  needles ;  the  one,  called  diamond  needle,  when 
made  in  the  form  of  a  lozenge,  very  short  and  very  wide ;  the 
other,  exterior,  rather  longer,  and  similar  to  ordinary  needles. 
Mr.  Walker  found  advantage  in  substituting  for  the  diamond 
needle,  a  needle  formed  of  several  very  short  needles  of  thin 
steel  and  strongly  magnetized,  fixed  upon  an  ivory  disc  of  1£ 
inches  in  diameter.  A  single  narrow,  coffin-shaped  rhomb  makes 
a  good  needle.  The  outer  needle  is  three  inches  in  length.  The 
frame  of  the  bobbin,  A,  Fig.  59,  is  of  brass,  or,  better  still,  of 
wood  or  ivory;  it  is  fixed  by  screws  to  a  brass  plate,  often  var- 
9* 


102 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


Fig.  59. 


THE  NEEDLE   SYSTEM.  103 

nished  on  the  side  towards  the  dase,  and  supported  against  its 
frame  ;  or  it  is  made  in  halves,  and  slides  into  grooves  at  the 
back  of  the  case,  independently  of  the  dial.  The  wire  of  the 
bobbin  is  less  than  a  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  its  two 
extremities  abut  upon  binding-screws,  V,  W ;  a  slip  of  metal 
unites  the  extremity  W  with  another  binding-screw,  T ;  V  com- 
municates in  like  manner,  by  a  metal  slip  from  F",  by  the  spring 
Hj  the  stud  a,  and  the  spring  E,  with  the  binding-screw  R. 
The  springs  H,  I,  which  are  of  steel,  press  strongly  against  two 
points  fixed  into  a  brass  stem,  X,  cemented  into  the  wooden  case 
of  the  instrument.  A  conducting-wire  connects  the  binding-screw 
T  with  R  (when  the  instrument  is  being  tried  on  a  short  circuit 
in  a  room)  ;  and  the  circuit  is  completed  in  the  following  man- 
ner between  T  and  R.  The  current,  arrived  at  T,  passes  into 
the  bobbin  by  the  right  side,  returns  by  the  left,  ascends  the 
steel  spring  H,  passes  by  the  studs  in  the  stem  to  the  other  spring, 
I,  descends  to  R,  and  completes  the  circuit  by  the  earth  wire. 
Let  us  now  conceive  that  the  conducting-wire  of  a  first  station 
communicates  with  T,  and  the  wire  of  a  second  station  with  J?, 
the  apparatus  will  be  in  the  circuit  of  the  telegraphic  line,  and 
quite  ready  to  receive  (as  above  described)  the  signals  manifested 
by  the  deviations  of  the  needle  or  needles  ;  since  two  similar  ap- 
paratus are  connected  with  each  other,  and  their  bobbins  are 
traversed  at  the  same  time  by  the  current  that  goes  from  T  to  R. 
In  order  to  obtain  greater  regularity,  it  has  been  agreed  always 
to  place  the  conducting-wire  that  leads  up  the  line  in  communica- 
tion with  T,  and  the  wire  that  leads  down  the  line  with  JR. 

The  above  is  the  manner  in  which  signals  are  received ;  let 
us  now  state  how  they  are  transmitted.  The  commutator  is  a 
cylinder  of  boxwood,  mounted  as  shown  in  the  figure,  and  which 
is  able  to  turn  upon  itself  by  means  of  a  handle  ;  its  extremities, 
Z,  N,  are  fitted  with  brass  collars,  with  studs  standing  out,  and 
insulated  from  each  other  by  the  wood  which  separates  them. 
Two  strong  steel  springs,  G,  K,  fixed  at  the  right  and  the  left 
upon  the  brass  slips,  rest  with  friction,  one  upon  the  brass  drum 
Z,  and  cause  the  extremities  of  the  commutator  to  communicate 
with  the  binding-screws  S  and  Q,  and  by  their  means  with  the 


104        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

poles  of  the  battery.  If  the  commutator  is  made  to  turn,  the 
stud  M  causes  one  of  the  springs  If,  I,  to  rise,  which,  by  this  act, 
will  no  longer  communicate  with  each  other  by  the  stem  Q.  In 
the  figure,  it  is  the  right  spring  H  that  is  raised ;  but  a  little  fur- 
ther motion  imparted  to  the  commutator  causes  the  block  o  to  be 
touched  by  the  stud  M,  which  places  it  in  communication  with 
the  drum  y ;  the  current  of  the  battery  then  circulates  through 
the  apparatus,  and  in  the  whole  of  the  telegraphic  circuit.  In 
fact,  when  arrived  at  S,  it  will  pass  by  G  into  the  drum  Z,  will 
enter  by  the  upper  stud  M  into  the  spring  H,  and  thence  by  V 
into  the  bobbin ;  it  will  come  out  by  W,  will  come  on  to  F^  will 
pass  along  into  the  conducting-wire  of  the  telegraphic  line,  will 
come  to  R,  will  pass  by  E  to  the  stud  I,  and  thence  by  the  drum 
y  and  the  spring  Q  along  the  slip  to  the  copper  pole  Q.  If  the 
manipulator  is  turned  in  the  opposite  direction,  the  current  trans- 
mitted from  S  to  the  drum  Z  will  arrive  at  R  by  the  spring  H 
and  the  plated;  will  go  into  the  conductor  of  the  telegraphic 
line ;  will  come  to  T,  enter  into  the  multipliers  by  W,  and  come  by 
the  plate  and  block  to  the  stud  K,  to  the  drum  Z,  and  by  the 
spring  Q1  to  the  copper  pole  Q.  The  internal  arrangements  of 
the  multipliers  are  so  arranged,  that,  when  the  handle  is  turned 
to  the  right,  the  needle  is  deviated  towards  the  right.  The  needle 
A,  placed  at  the  outside  of  the  apparatus,  has  always  its  north 
pole  upwards ;  the  inside  needle  has  always  its  north  pole  down- 
wards ;  so  that,  in  virtue  of  the  law  of  the  action  of  currents  upon 
magnets,  if  on  looking  at  the  instrument  in  front  we  see  the 
upper  point  of  the  needle  move  towards  the  right,  we  may  be 
sure  that  in  the  half  of  the  wire  nearest  to  the  spectator  the 
current  is  ascending.  We  have  merely,  therefore,  to  turn  the 
handle  now  to  the  right,  now  to  the  left,  in  order  to  make  all 
the  needles  of  the  telegraphs  deviate  to  the  right  and  left,  and 
transmit  signals. 

The  alarum,  or  bell,  intended  for  giving  notice  that  a  despatch 
is  about  to  be  sent,  and  which  is  placed  upon  the  top  of  the  case, 
presents  a  very  simple  mechanism ;  it  consists  of  an  electro-mag- 
net, and  a  movable  armature  of  soft  iron,  attracted  by  the  electro- 
magnet every  time  that,  and  also  for  as  long  a  time  as,  the  cur- 


THE  NEEDLE  SYSTEM.  105 

rent  passes ;  two  small  brass  screws,  tipped  with  ivory,  and  fixed 
into  the  armature,  prevent  its  coming  into  absolute  contact  with 
the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet,  while  still  permitting  it  to  ap- 
proach very  near  to  it.  The  object  of  this  arrangement  is  to 
prevent  the  adherence  of  the  armature  of  the  electro-magnet,  an 
adherence  which  too  often  would  continue  even  after  the  rupture 
of  the  circuit.  The  armature  is  terminated  by  a  lever,  arranged 
as  a  detent,  in  such  a  manner  that  when  it  is  drawn  up  by  the 
current  the  detent  is  released,  and  thus  sets  in  motion  a  train  of 
clock-work  which  causes  a  hammer  to  strike  a  bell. 

In  concluding  the  description  of  the  double-needle  telegraph, 
let  us  now  recall  to  mind  the  manner  in  which  it  is  employed. 
The  following  is,  first,  the  complete  vocabulary :  — 


•       ABC  M         N 

\    \\    \\\   m  /     // 


V       \V    \\V  V       V/      N/// 

VT  H  U  V 

^^s)  .        y        >y/ 


Q       K       L  X    Y     Z 

VA  v\    \,v  /J  N/y  /y 


Fig.  60. 

A.  Two  movements  towards  the  left  of  the  left  needle. 

B.  Three  movements  toward  the  left  of  the  left  needle. 

C  and  1.  Two  movements  of  the  left  needle  ;  the  first  to  the 
right,  the  second  to  the  left. 

D  and  2.  Two  movements  of  the  left  needle  ;  the  first  to  the 
left,  the  second  to  the  right. 

E  and  3.  A  single  movement  of  the  left  needle  toward  the 
right 


106  ELECTKIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

F.  Two  movements  to  the  right  of  the  left  needle. 

G.  Three  movements  of  the  left  needle  toward  the  right. 
H  and  4.     A  movement  toward  the  left  of  the  right  needle. 
I.     Two  movements  toward  the  left  of  the  right  needle. 

J  is  omitted,  and  G  substituted  for  it. 

K.    Three  movements  toward  the  left  of  the  right  needle. 

L  and  5.  Two  movements  of  the  right  needle ;  the  first  to  the 
right,  the  second  to  the  left. 

M  and  6.  Two  movements  of  the  right  needle  ;  the  first  to  the 
left,  the  second  to  the  right. 

N  and  7.  A  single  movement  toward  the  right  of  the  right 
needle. 

O.     Two  movements  toward  the  right  of  the  right  needle. 

P.     Three  movements  toward  the  right  of  the  right  needle. 

Q  is  omitted  ;  K  is  substituted  for  it. 

R  and  8.  A  parallel  movement  toward  the  left  of  both  needles. 
The  lower  end  is  read  in  this  and  the  two  following  signals. 

S.     Two  parallel  movements  toward  the  left  of  both  needles. 

T.     Three  parallel  movements  toward  the  left  of  both  needles. 

TJ  and  9.  Two  parallel  movements  of  both  needles  ;  the  first 
to  the  right,  the  second  to  the  left. 

V  and  0.  Two  parallel  movements  of  both  needles ;  the  first 
to  the  left,  the  second  to  the  right. 

W.     A  parallel  movement  of  both  needles  toward  the  right. 

X.     Two  parallel  movements  of  both  needles  toward  the  right. 

Y.     Three  parallel  movements  of  both  needles  toward  the  right. 

Z  is  omitted,  unless  made  with  one  beat  more  than  Y ;  or  S  is 
substituted. 

The  sign  -f-,  called  stop  by  the  English,  is  the  final  point,  by 
which  the  person  who  sends  the  despatch  announces  that  the 
word  is  finished ;  it  is  indicated  by  the  movement  of  the  left  nee- 
dle toward  the  left.  This  sign  serves  also  for  him  who  receives 
the  despatch  to  indicate  that  he  does  not  understand ;  when  he 
understands,  he  shows  the  letter  E ;  two  E's,  or  rather  two  move- 
ments of  the  left  needle,  are  employed  for  saying  yes. 

The  words,  wait,  go  on,  engraven  upon  the  instruments,  are 
useful  signals.  If  London  addresses  Dover,  when  Dover  is  occu- 


THE  NEEDLE  SYSTEM.  107 

pied  and  is  unable  to  lend  attention  to  the  correspondence  that 
London  is  about  to  open,  Dover  directs  the  lower  end  of  the 
needles  to  the  letter  R,  and  says  by  this  act,  wait.  When  he  has 
become  at  liberty  again,  and  ready  to  receive  the  message,  he 
directs  his  needles  to  W,  which  means,  go  on. 

It  is  especially  important  for  the  two  stations  that  are  opening 
a  correspondence  to  understand  each  other  well  before  com- 
mencing. It  is  necessary  that  the  one  who  receives  should  know 
well  who  is  sending  to  him ;  and  that  the  one  who  sends  a  mes- 
sage should  know  clearly  if  it  is  the  station  with  which  he  desires 
to  correspond  that  really  receives  it.  Above  the  six  large  letters, 
-(-,  E,  H,  N,  R,  W,  are  engraved  the  names  of  the  stations  of  the 
group :  and  these  stations  will  henceforth  be  always  designated 
by  these  letters.  In  the  apparatus,  R  is  London ;  E,  Tunbridge  ; 
H,  Ashford ;  N,  Folkestone  ;  W,  Dover.  If,  now,  London  de- 
sire to  correspond  with  Tunbridge,  he  directs  his  needle  to  E  for 
a  few  moments;  each  movement  causes  the  Tunbridge  bell  to 
ring,  should  it  be  in  circuit,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  would  be 
situated  on  the  same  wire  as  the  left  needle.  The  attention  of  the 
clerk  is  roused ;  he  puts  his  alarum  out  of  circuit,  and  transmits 
to  London  the  same  signal,  which  is  equivalent  to  saying,  All 
right,  I  am  at  my  post.  London  is  then  sure  of  being  under- 
stood at  Tunbridge.  He  then  directs  the  needles  upon  the  letter 
R,  which  indicates  London,  and  Tunbridge,  in  his  turn,  knows 
that  it  is  London  that  is  speaking  to  him,  and  by  repeating  this 
same  signal,  R,  he  says  that  he  has  received  it.  London  then 
goes  on  with  Tunbridge;  the  correspondence  commences,  and 
Tunbridge  after  each  letter  says  E,  understand,  or  the  stop  -f-> 
not  understand.  When  the  despatch  is  completed,  London  makes 
two  deviations  of  the  left  needle  towards  the  left ;  the  clerk  at 
Tunbridge  repeats  them,  if  he  has  nothing  to  add,  and  proceeds 
to  the  transmission  of  the  despatch  to  its  ulterior  destination. 

Two  telegraph  clerks  are  able  to  modify  their  vocabulary  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  intermediate  stations  seeing  their  sig- 
nals are  unable  to  decipher  them.  They  can  agree,  for  example, 
that  the  right  directions  shall  be  read  to  the  left,  and  reciprocally, 
for  one  of  the  needles,  or  for  both ;  secondly,  that  the  left  needle 


108         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

shall  become  a  second  right  needle,  or  the  right  needle  a  second 
left  one ;  or,  thirdly,  that  the  right  needle  shall  become  the  left 
needle,  and  the  left  the  right,  &c.,  &c. 

The  figures  are  written  under  certain  letters ;  and  the  sign  H 
followed  by  the  -\-  shows  that  a  figure  is  about  to  be  indicated, 
and  not  the  corresponding  letter.  In  order  to  avoid  all  errors, 
the  correspondent  immediately  repeats  the  same  H  -f-,  indicating 
by  this  that  he  expects  a  figure,  and  not  a  letter.  The  letter  "W, 
interposed  among  the  figures,  serves  to  separate  compound 
figures  or  decimal  fractions.  Thus,  H,  E,  W,  N,  means  43/.  7s., 
or  43  ft.  7  in.,  or  43  h.  7  m.,  &c.  Special  signals  indicate  periods, 
paragraphs,  words  underlined,  or  other  important  circumstances  ; 
the  clerks  have  invented  a  signal  for  laughing,  and  for  express- 
ing their  astonishment,  &c.,  &c.  The  English  clerks  are  so  well 
skilled,  that  they  are  able  to  send  the  most  difficult  despatches, 
even  when  no  letter  or  figure  or  signal  may  be  engraved  upon 
the  dial  of  their  apparatus. 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  double-needle  telegraph  may  easily 
be  arranged  so  that  it  shall  act  as  a  single-needle  telegraph  only, 
which  is  very  valuable  in  many  cases ;  as,  for  example,  when  one 
of  the  two  wires  necessary  to  the  double-needle  telegraph  has 
become  deranged  or  broken ;  or  when  the  two  wires,  by  the  effect 
of  a  violent  storm  or  an  accident,  have  come  into  contact,  so  as 
to  constitute  one  only.  Moreover,  the  single-needle  telegraph, 
although  its  manipulation  requires  a  little  more  time,  is  able  to 
render  great  service ;  it  is  not  unfrequently  employed  for  the 
notices  to  be  given  on  railways  between  the  various  stations. 

The  double-needle  telegraph  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect  of  all 
in  theory ;  and  although  it  requires  the  employment  of  two  wires, 
it  merits  the  preference  in  the  majority  of  cases,  both  on  account 
of  its  simplicity,  the  action  upon  which  it  depends  being  a  direct 
action,  which  does  not  require  any  intermediate  mechanism,  and 
also  on  account  of  its  infallibility,  which  is  due  to  the  same  cause, 
since  it  is  less  susceptible  than  any  other  of  becoming  deranged 
and  giving  rise  to  errors.  The  facility  with  which  the  handles 
lend  themselves  to  the  movements  to  be  executed,  and  the  rapid- 
ity which  results  from  it  in  the  transmission  of  despatches,  are 


THE  NEEDLE  SYSTEM.  109 

equally  remarkable.  Mr.  Walker,  as  the  result  of  his  long  ex- 
perience, has  observed  that,  in  ordinary  cases,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  words  per  minute  are  easily  transmitted  ;  that  very 
frequently,  when  all  is  in  order  and  the  insulation  is  good,  twenty- 
five  or  more  are  transmitted.  These  considerations  explain  why 
the  double-needle  telegraph  is  generally  adopted  in  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  why  it  is  retained,  notwithstanding  the  evident  superi- 
ority in  many  respects,  as  we  shall  see,  presented  by  Morse's 
telegraph ;  they  will  likewise  serve  as  our  justification  for  the 
extended  description  we  have  given  of  it. 

There  remains  another  needle  telegraph,  contrived  by  Mr. 
Bain,  which  was  set  up  in  1846,  upon  the  line  from  Edinburgh 
to  Glasgow.  This  telegraph  is  a  single-needle  one  ;  but  the 
number  of  movements  necessary  for  forming  a  signal  never  ex- 
ceeds four ;  this  is  only  one  more  than  in  the  double-needle  tele- 
graph, and  the  same  number  as  in  Cooke  and  Wheatstone's  single- 
needle  ;  it  has  the  same  advantage  as  the  latter  in  requiring  only 
one  wire.  This  telegraph,  like  the  preceding  one,  depends  upon 
the  action  that  is  exercised  upon  the  magnet  by  the  current  that 
traverses  the  wire  of  a  bobbin ;  but  the  arrangement  of  the  differ- 
ent pieces  of  the  apparatus  is  very  different ;  the  two  permanent 
magnets  of  a  semicircular  form  are  connected  together  by  means 
of  a  brass  rod  in  the  diameter  of  their  circle,  upon  which  is  fixed, 
perpendicularly  to  this  diameter,  the  indicating-needle,  which 
comes  from  its  centre,  through  which  also  passes  the  axis  of  rota- 
tion. The  two  semicircular  magnets  have  their  poles  of  the 
same  name  near  to  each  other,  there  being  between  them  an 
interval  of  not  more  than  a  sixth  of  an  inch ;  two  bobbins  are 
so  placed  that,  in  the  state  of  inaction,  the  two  neighboring  poles 
of  the  magnets  are  likewise  in  the  interior  of  the  same  bobbin. 
It  follows  from  this  that,  as  soon  as  a  current  penetrates  into  the 
wire  of  the  bobbin,  one  of  the  poles  is  driven  from  the  interior  of 
the  bobbin,  whilst  the  other  penetrates  into  it ;  which  produces, 
according  to  the  direction  of  the  current,  a  movement  of  the  indi- 
cating-needle, either  to  the  left  or  to  the  right.  The  same  effect 
takes  place  upon  the  other  two  poles  of  the  two  semicircular  mag- 
nets, which  likewise  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  a  second  bobbin. 
10 


HO        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

It  is  now  easy  to  comprehend  that,  by  means  of  a  commutator,  we 
are  able  to  produce  movements  of  the  indicating-needle  as  nu- 
merous as  we  desire,  and  which  rapidly  succeed  each  other,  either 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  and  the  direction  of  which  deviations 
is  carefully  made  to  coincide  with  that  of  the  motion  imparted 
by  the  hand  to  the  arm  with  which  the  handle  is  furnished,  by 
which  the  commutator  is  made  to  move. 


HOUSE'S  FEINTING  TELEGRAPH. 


Ill 


CHAPTER    VII. 

HOUSE'S    PRINTING  TELEGRAPH. 

THIS  magnificent  instrument  (Fig.  61),  in  which  the  applica- 
tion of  the  electric  science  to  the  art  of  telegraphy  seems  carried 


to  its  highest  perfection,  —  which  works  at  the  astonishing  rate  of 
sixty  or  seventy  strokes  or   breaks   in   a   second,  and  at  once 


112        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

records  the  information  by  its  own  machinery  in  plain  Roman 
letters,  and  literally  gives  letters  to  lightning,  as  well  as  "  light- 
ning to  letters,"  —  was  invented  by  Royal  E.  House,  a  native  of 
Vermont. 

A  patent  was  applied  for  in  1846,  but,  owing  to  some  supposed 
infringement  upon  the  Morse  patent,  it  was  not  granted.  Sub- 
sequently, however,  the  instrument  was  changed  by  the  substitu- 
tion of  air  in  the  place  of  an  electro-magnet  and  a  local  circuit 
for  carrying  the  escapement,  and  a  patent  was  issued  in  1848. 

Mr.  House  was  engaged  for  nearly  six  years  in  perfecting  the 
instrument,  it  being  of  so  complicated  a  character  (although  all 
its  parts  are  simple)  as  to  require  an  immense  amount  of  thought 
and  study  to  bring  it  into  practical  form,  after  it  had  been  gener- 
ally worked  out. 

This  system  is  the  most  rapid,  and  at  the  same  time  accurate, 
which  has  ever  been  invented.  It  is  twice  as  rapid  as  the  Morse 
or  Bain,  and  four  times  as  rapid  as  the  needle  system  of  Cooke  and 
Wheatstone.  But  its  great  rapidity  is  not  its  only  recommenda- 
tion ;  —  it  presents  an  accurate  transcript  of  the  matter  trans- 
mitted, printed  in  Roman  letters  and  properly  punctuated ! 

Unlike  the  Morse  and  Bain  instruments,  which  make  use  of 
the  electric  current  to  do  nearly  all  the  work,  this  instrument 
uses  the  electric  current  as  little  as  possible,  and  relies  for 
the  accomplishment  of  its  work  upon  other  forces,  namely,  man- 
ual power,  air,  and  a  variety  of  springs  and  frictions.  A  key- 
board, similar  in  appearance  to  that  of  the  piano-forte,  having  the 
twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  a  dot  and  dash  painted 
upon  them,  is  used  in  transmitting  a  message.  Under  the  key- 
board there  is  a  circuit-wheel,  having  at  one  end  fourteen  cogs 
and  fourteen  spaces.  Directly  over  the  cogs  and  spaces  rests 
a  spring,  which,  when  it  presses  against  a  cog,  closes  the  circuit, 
and  when  it  covers  a  space,  opens  it. 

Now,  when  the  wheel  is  made  to  revolve,  by  a  man  turning  a 
crank  which  carries  the  instrument,  the  circuit  is  broken  and 
closed  just  twenty-eight  times  for  each  revolution.  There  are 
pins  set  around  the  surface  of  the  circuit-wheel  shaft  correspond- 
ing to  the  cogs  and  spaces  upon  the  circuit-wheel,  so  that,  by 


HOUSE'S  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH.  113 

pressing  down  any  of  the  keys,  the  wheel  can  be  arrested  at  any 
moment. 

The  paper  receives  its  impression  from  the  steel  type  cut  in 
the  surface  of  the  type-wheel  (situated  upon  the  top  of  the  in- 
strument), which,  by  an  ingenious  contrivance  of  a  miniature 
press,  forces  the  paper  against  a  blackened  silk  ribbon,  pressing 
it  upon  the  type-wheel  with  sufficient  force  to  make  a  legible 
impression. 

The  press  can  only  work  when  the  type-wheel  is  at  rest,  and 
we  will  now  show  how  the  keys  control  the  movements  of  the 
type-wheel.  Connected  with  the  circuit-wheel  is  an  electro-axial 
magnet,  which  connects  at  the  upper  end  with  a  tightly  fitting 
air-valve.  From  the  air-chamber  lead  two  pipes,  through  only 
pne  of  which  the  air  is  forced  at  a  time.  If  the  valve  be  drawn 
down  by  the  magnet,  it  passes  through  the  right-hand  pipe ;  if 
the  valve  be  raised  by  the  spring,  it  passes  through  the  left.  At 
the  extremity  of  the  air-pipes  there  is  a  double-headed  cylinder, 
which,  when  the  air  is  forced  into  the  right  end,  forces  the  valve 
to  the  left,  and  when  forced  into  the  left  end,  forces  the  valve  to 
the  right.  In  the  centre  of  this  cylinder  there  is  placed  an  arm  of 
an  escapement  whose  two  prongs  embrace  the  under  part  of  the 
type-wheel  in  such  a  manner  that,  if  the  escapement  be  forced 
either  to  the  left  or  the  right  by  the  cylinder,  the  type-wheel  must 
stop.  The  type-wheel  contains  as  many  cogs  as  the  circuit-wheel, 
and  when  the  circuit-wheel  is  set  in  motion  the  type-wheel  can 
make  just  as  many  revolutions  as  the  circuit-wheel,  and  no  more. 
The  circuit-wheel  controls  the  magnet ;  the  magnet  controls  the 
valve  ;  the  valve  controls  the  double-headed  cylinder ;  the  cylin- 
der controls  the  escapement ;  and  the  escapement  controls  the 
type-wheel.  All  the  instruments  commence  from  the  dash. 
There  are,  upon  an  average,  seven  breaks  and  closes  for  every 
letter,  although  some  may  not  require  more  than  one,  while 
others  require  twenty-eight. 

To  operate  this  instrument  two  persons  are  necessary,  —  one 
to  furnish  the  motive  power,  the  other  to  use  it  in  transmitting 
the  despatch. 

English  writers  have  failed  to  understand  this  instrument,  and 
10*  H 


114        ELECTEIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

English  mechanics  have  failed  to  duplicate  it.  It  is  described  in 
several  British  works  upon  the  telegraph  as  being  almost  the 
slowest  kind  in  use,  while  in  fact  it  is  altogether  the  most  rapid, 
—  being  twice  as  fast  as  the  Morse,  and  four  times  as  fast  as  the 
needle  telegraph  in  use  in  Great  Britain. 

The  first  line  using  the  House  system  was  completed  in  March, 
1849,  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The  second  line, 
between  New  York  and  Boston,  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year,  and  was  followed  by  a  line  to  Buffalo,  Cleveland, 
and  Chicago ;  one  from  Philadelphia  to  Washington ;  and  one  from 
New  York  city  to  Sandy  Hook.  In  1853,  the  government  of 
Cuba  contracted  with  parties  in  this  country  for  the  construction 
of  lines  of  telegraph  1,200  miles  in  length,  with  51  stations,  to  use 
the  House  instrument.  American  operators  were  employed  to 
teach  the  Spaniards,  to  whose  management  the  lines  were  sur- 
rendered ;  but  we  are  not  aware  how  well  they  have  succeeded 
with  the  business.  No  despatches  are  allowed  to  be  sent  over 
the  Cuban  wires  except  they  are  written  in  Spanish,  and  the  gov- 
ernment exercises  a  close  surveillance  over  the  whole  business. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  Cuban  government  was  intro- 
ducing the  House  system  into  that  island,  one  of  the  English 
companies  decided  to  give  it  a  trial.  They  bought  one  of  the 
instruments  in  this  country,  and  endeavored  to  manufacture  oth- 
ers by  it,  but  after  two  or  three  attempts  relinquished  the  idea 
as  a  fruitless  one.  They  then  sent  to  this  country  for  two  more 
instruments,  and  operators  to  work  them,  and  attempted  to  use 
them  upon  the  subterranean  lines  between  London  and  Liver- 
pool ;  but  it  was  found  that  the  underground  lines  did  not  dis- 
charge themselves  rapidly  enough,  on  account  of  the  static 
induction,  for  the  necessary  vibrations  of  this  instrument,  and 
therefore  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

This  is  much  to  be  regretted,  for  this  system  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  short  circuits  of  the  English  lines,  and,  were  it 
once  established  upon  the  open-air  lines,  would  undoubtedly  be 
generally  adopted. 

For  the  past  seven  years,  House's  printing  telegraph  between 
Boston  and  New  York  has  transmitted  a  large  proportion  of  the 


HOUSE'S  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH.  115 

private  telegrams  between  these  two  important  points,  as  well  as 
the  entire  report  of  the  press.  The  work,  we  need  hardly  say, 
has  been  done  eminently  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  business  public, 
with  whom  the  printed  slips  are  highly  popular. 

House's  printing  telegraph  is  a  step-by-step,  axial-magnetic, 
letter-printing  instrument.  Like  most  other  systems,  there  are 
two  distinct  parts  to  the  apparatus ;  namely,  the  composing,  and 
the  registering  or  printing  apparatus.  Some  of  the  instruments 
are  provided  with  treadles  for  the  purpose  of  producing  the 
necessary  motive  power  to  supply  the  machines  with  air,  and  to 
carry  the  composing  and  printing  apparatus ;  but  the  greater 
number,  and  indeed  all  in  the  larger  offices,  are  turned  by  crank, 
by  a  man  especially  employed  for  this  service,  called  the  grinder. 

We  will  now  endeavor  to  describe  the  instrument  fully,  so  that 
all  its  parts  may  be  clear  to  the  reader,  and  its  modus  operandi 
correctly  understood. 

The  reader  has  already  the  general  idea  that  the  action  of  the 
composing  apparatus,  namely,  the  breaks  and  closes  of  the  circuit- 
wheel,  controls  the  movements  of  the  type-wheel,  and  thus  desig- 
nates the  letter  to  be  printed.  The  reader  must  not,  however, 
confound  this  action  with  that  of  the  Morse  machine,  which  is 
totally  unlike  it.  In  that  system,  the  same  number  of  breaks 
always  produces  the  same  letter,  provided  they  are  made  in  the 
same  length  of  time ;  while  in  this  the  number  of  breaks  which 
are  required  for  a  letter  is  made  dependent  upon  what  letter  was 
made  before  it.  Thus,  when  .we  have  made  A,  it  requires  only 
one  break  to  make  B,  and  one  close  for  C,  and  then  a  break  for  D ; 
and  so  on  through  the  alphabet ;  but  if,  after  making  A,  we  wish 
to  make  another  A,  we  must  allow  the  wheel  to  perform  an  entire 
revolution,  or  to  break  and  close  the  circuit  just  twenty-eight  times; 
and  the  same  is  true  of  any  other  letter,  which,  having  just 
printed,  we  wish  to  print  again.  This  is  owing  to  the  step-by-step 
motion,  and  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  English  writers  have  got 
the  impression  that  the  instrument  is  slow. 

A  composing  and  a  printing  machine  are  both  required  at  every 
station ;  the  printing  apparatus  is  entirely  distinct  from  the  cir- 
cuit, but  all  the  composing  machines  are  included  in  and  form 


116        ELECTKIC  TELEGKAPH  APPARATUS. 

part  of  it.  The  circuit  commences  in  the  galvanic  battery  of  one 
station,  passes  along  the  conductor  to  another  station,  through  the 
coil  of  the  axial  magnet  to  an  insulated  iron  frame  of  the  compos- 
ing machine,  thence  to  a  circuit  wheel  revolving  in  this  frame ;  it 
then  enters  a  spring  that  rubs  on  the  edge  of  this  circuit-wheel, 
and  has  a  connection  with  the  return  wire,  along  which  the  elec- 
tricity goes  through  another  battery  back  to  the  station  whence 
it  started,  to  pursue  the  same  course  through  the  composing 
machine  and  magnet  there,  and  all  others  upon  the  line.  Thus 
the  circuit  is  confined  to  the  composing  machines,  axial  magnets, 
conducting-wires,  and  batteries. 

The  composing  machine  is  arranged  with- 
in a  mahogany  frame,  H  (Fig.  61),  three 
feet  in  length,  two  in  width,  and  six  to  ten 
inches  deep  ;  the  various  parts  of  the  print- 
ing machine  are  seen  on  the  top  of  the  same 
case.  Both  are  propelled  by  the  same  manual 
power,  which  is  distinct  from  the  electric 
current ;  it  is  simply  a  crank,  with  a  pulley 
carrying  a  band  to  drive  the  machine,  and  a 
balance-wheel  to  give  stable  motion.  One  of 
the  spokes  of  the  balance-wheel  has  fixed  to 
it  an  axis  for  the  end  of  a  vertical  shaft  to 
revolve  on,  which  moves  the  piston  of  an  air- 
condenser,  G,  fastened  to  the  floor ;  the  air 
is  compressed  in  the  chamber  I,  fourteen 
inches  long,  and  six  in  diameter,  lying  be- 
neath the  mahogany  case  If;  it  is  furnished 
with  a  safety-valve,  to  permit  the  escape  of 
redundant  air  not  needed  in  the  economy  of 
the  machine. 

The  composing  system  has  an  insulated 
iron  frame,  A  (Fig.  62),  placed  immediately 
below  the  keys,  parallel  with  the  long  di- 
ameter of  the  case ;  this  has  within  it  a 
revolving  shaft,  C ;  the  shaft  is  enclosed  for 
rig.  62.  the  greater  part  of  its  length  by  the  iron 


HOUSE'S  FEINTING  TELEGRAPH.  117 

cylinder  B ;  it  is  made  to  revolve  by  a  band  playing  over  the 
pulley  D,  fixed  to  the  left  extremity  of  it.  The  cylinder,  B9 
is  detached  from  the  shaft,  but  made  to  revolve  with  it  by  a 
friction  contrivance,  consisting  of  a  brass  flange  fastened  perma- 
nently to  the  revolving  shaft ;  the  face  of  the  flange  and  the  inner 
face  of  the  circuit-wheel  are  in  contact,  with  a  piece  of  oiled 
leather  interposed ;  the  friction  is  regulated  by  a  spring  pressing 
against  the  end  of  the  revolving  shaft,  C.  The  object  of  this 
friction  apparatus  is  to  allow  the  shaft  to  revolve  while  the  cyl- 
inder can  be  arrested. 

On  the  right  end  of  the  cylinder  is  fixed  the  brass  wheel, 
E,  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  called  the  circuit-wheel 
or  break ;  the  outer  edge  or  circumference  of  it  is  divided  into 
twenty-eight  equal  spaces,  each  alternate  space  being  cut  away 
to  the  depth  of  one  fourth  of  an  inch,  leaving  fourteen  teeth 
or  segments,  and  fourteen  spaces.  The  revolving  shaft  and 
cylinder  form  part  of  the  electric  circuit ;  one  point  of  connection 
being  where  the  shaft  rests  on  the  frafne,  the  other  through  a 
spring,  F,  having  connection  with  the  other  end  of  the  circuit, 
pressing  on  the  periphery  of  the  break-wheel,  E ;  G,  the  other 
part  of  the  circuit,  coming  from  the  axial  magnet  to  the  frame  A. 
When  the  shaft,  cylinder,  and  circuit-wheel  revolve,  the  spring 
will  alternately  strike  a  tooth  and  pass  into  an  open  space ;  in  the 
former  case,  the  circuit  is  closed,  in  the  latter  it  is  open. 

For  the  purpose  of  arresting  the  motion  of  the  circuit-wheel 
and  cylinder,  the  latter  has  two  spiral  lines  of  teeth  (ff,  Fig. 
62)  extending  along  its  opposite  sides,  fourteen  in  each  line, 
making  twenty-eight,  one  for  each  tooth  and  one  for  each  space 
on  the  circuit  wheel.  The  cylinder  extends  the  whole  width  of  the 
key-board  above  it ;  the  latter  is  like  that  of  a  pianoforte,  contain- 
ing twenty-eight  keys,  which  correspond  with  the  twenty-eight 
projections  on  the  cylinder,  and  have  marked  on  them,  in  order, 
the  alphabet,  a  dot,  and  dash,  or  rather  a  space  of  the  length  of  a 
dash  (Fig.  61)  ;  they  are  kept  in  a  horizontal  position  by  springs ; 
there  is  a  cam  or  stop  fixed  to  the  under  surface  of  each  key, 
directly  over  one  of  the  projections' on  the  cylinder;  these  stops 
do  not  meet  the  teeth  unless  the  key  is  pressed  down,  which  being 


118 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


done,  the  motion  of  the  cylinder  is  stopped  by  their  contact.  By 
making  the  circuit-wheel  revolve,  the  circuit  is  rapidly  broken 
and  closed,  which  continues  until  a  key  is  depressed ;  that  key 
being  released,  the  revolution  continues  until  the  depression  of 
another  key,  and  so  on ;  the  depression  of  a  key  either  keeps  the 
circuit  broken  or  closed,  as  it  may  happen  to  be  at  the  time,  so 
that  the  operator  does  not  break  and  close  the  circuit,  but  merely 
keeps  it  stationary  for  a  moment.  From  one  to  twenty-eight  open- 
ings and  closings  of  the  circuit  take  place  between  the  depression 

of  two  different  keys,  or 
the  repetition  of  the  de- 
pression of  the  same  one  ; 
the  object  of  the  compos- 
ing machine  is  to  rapidly 
break  and  close  the  cir- 
cuit as  many  times  as 
there  are  spaces  from 
any  given  letter  to  the 
next  one  which  it  is  de- 
sired to  transmit,  count- 
ing in  alphabetical  order. 
The  rapid  pulsations 
are  transmitted  by  the 
circuit  of  conductors  to 
the  magnet  and  print- 
ing machine  at  another 
station,  through  the  wire 
I,  Fig.  61.  The  helix 
of  this  magnet  is  an 
intensity  coil,  contained 
in  the  steel  cylinder,  A, 
Fig.  61,  in  the  upper 
surface  of  the  mahogany 
case ;  its  axis  is  vertical. 
A,  Fig.  63,  is  a  brass 
tube,  eight  or  ten  inches 
Figt63t  long,  placed  within  the 


HOUSE'S  FEINTING  TELEGRAPH.  119 

helix,  and  fastened  at  the  bottom  by  the  screw  D.  To  the 
inner  surface  of  this  tube  are  soldered  six  or  eight  soft  iron  tubes, 
separated  from  each  other  at  regular  intervals.  Above  the  iron 
cylinder  is  an  elliptical  ring,  F,  through  the  axis  of  which  is  ex- 
tended an  elastic  wire,  G ;  two  screws  are  attached  to  the  wire, 
by  which  it  is  made  lax  or  tense,  to  suit  the  intensity  of  the 
electric  current.  From  this  is  suspended  the  brass  rod,  (7,  that 
passes  down  within  the  small  iron  tubes  before  mentioned,  and 
has  strung  on  it  six  or  eight  small  iron  tubes  ;  these  are  fastened 
at  equal  intervals,  and  have  their  lower  extremity  expanded  into 
a  bell-like  flange ;  the  surrounding  fixed  ones  have  their  upper 
ends  enlarged  inwardly  in  the  same  manner.  The  tubes  and 
the  wire  to  which  they  are  fastened  are  movable,  so  as  to  come 
in  contact  with  the  small  exterior  iron  tubes,  K,  but  are  kept 
separate  by  the  elastic  spring  above.  At  E  is  the  brass  cov- 
ering. On  the  transmission  of  an  electric  current  through  the 
helix,  the  tubes  become  magnetic.  Such  is  the  arrangement  of 
their  polarities,  that  they  act  by  attraction  and  repulsion,  over- 
come the  elasticity  of  the  spring,  and  bring  the  movable  magnets 
down  to  the  fixed  ones ;  —  the  current  being  broken,  the  spring 
separates  them.  The  two  flanges  do  not  come  in  direct  contact, 
though  the  movable  one  acts  responsive  to  magnetic  influence. 
Most  of  the  magnetism  exists  at  the  flanges,  and  the  order  is 
such  that  the  lower  end  of  the  inner  tube  has  south  polarity,  the 
surrounding  one  above,  the  same,  which  repels  it,  while  the  top  of 
the  surrounding  one  below  has  north  polarity,  and  attracts  it ;  this 
movement  is  through  a  space  of  only  one  sixty-fourth  part  of  an 
inch. 

On  the  same  rod,  above  the  movable  magnets,  is  fixed  a  hollow 
cylindrical  valve,  having  on  its  outer  circumference  the  grooves 
1,  2,  3,  Fig.  63.  The  plate  represents  a  longitudinal  half-section 
of  the  valve,  magnets,  and  helix.  The  valve  slides  in  an  air- 
chamber,  Hj  which  has  two  grooves,  1,  2,  on  its  inner  surface. 
Air  is  admitted  through  the  orifice  1,  by  means  of  a  pipe  from 
the  air-chamber  beneath  the  case,  into  the  middle  groove  of  the 
valve.  The  grooves  of  the  chamber  open  into  the  side  passages 
/and  M,  which  connect  at  right  angles  with  a  second  chamber, 


120 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


in  which  a  piston  moves.  The  movement  of  the  magnets  changes 
the  apposition  of  the  grooves  in  the  first  chamber,  by  which  air 
enters  from  the  supply  pipe,  through  one  of  the  side  passages, 
into  the  second  chamber,  at  the  same  time  that  air  on  the  other 
side  of  the  piston,  in  the  second  chamber,  escapes  back  into  the 
grooves  1  and  2  of  the  valve,  through  the  other  side  passage,  and 
thence  into  the  atmosphere.  This  causes  the  piston  to  slide  back- 
ward and  forward  with  every  upward  and  downward  motion  of 
the  valve. 

This  piston  moves  horizontally,  and  is  connected  with  the  lever 
8,  Fig.  64,  of  an  escapement,  the  pallets  of  which  alternately 


Fig.  64. 

rest  on  the  teeth  of  an  escapement-wheel  of  the  printing  ma- 
chine, A.  This  part  of  the  apparatus  is  arranged  on  a  circular 
iron  plate,  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  supported  by 
standards  on  the  mahogany  frame,  ff,  Fig.  61.  The  escapement- 
wheel  revolves  on  a  vertical  shaft,  which  passes 
through  the  iron  plate,  and  has  fixed  on  it  there 
a  hollow  pulley.  This  pulley  contains  within  it  a 
friction  apparatus,  consisting  of  two  brass  clamps 
enclosing  two  pieces  of  leather  moistened  with 
oil,  which  being  pressed  against  the  shaft  by  the 
clamps,  and  carried  around  by  the  pulley,  acts 
Fig.  65.  upon  the  escapement-wheel,  causing  it  to  revolve 
constantly,  while  the  shaft  and  escapement-wheel  may  be  stopped. 


HOUSE'S   FEINTING   TELEGKAPH.  121 

The  escapement-wheel  has  fourteen  teeth,  each  one  of  which 
causes  two  motions  of  the  escapement,  which  will  make  twenty- 
eight  for  a  single  revolution  of  the  wheel,  which  is  shown  in 
Fig.  65. 

When  in  operation,  the  piston  to  which  is  attached  the  escape- 
ment arm  8,  Fig.  64,  is  subjected,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  to  a 
pressure  of  condensed  air ;  therefore  the  piston  and  escapement 
will  only  be  moved  by  the  escapement-wheel  when  the  air  is 
removed  from  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  piston.  The  position 
of  the  valve,  Fig.  63,  attached  to  the  magnet,  regulates  the  pres- 
sure of  air  on  either  side  of  the  piston,  by  opening  one  or  the 
other  of  the  side-passages  into  the  second  chamber.  By  break- 
ing and  closing  the  circuit,  therefore,  the  piston  and  escapement 
move  backward  and  forward ;  thus  a  single  revolution  of  the  cir- 
cuit-wheel at  one  station  opens  and  closes  the  circuit  twenty-eight 
times,  causing  an  equal  number  of  movements  of  the  magnets  in 
another  station ;  they  carry  the  valve  which  alternately  changes 
the  air  on  either  side  of  the  piston.  This  permits  the  escape- 
ment-wheel to  move  the  escapement  and  piston  twenty-eight 
times,  and  allows  one  revolution  of  the  escapement-wheel  for  one 
of  the  circuit-wheel  at  the  transmitting  station. 

A  steel  type-wheel,  A  B  O  D,  Fig.  64,  two  inches  in  diam- 
eter, is  fixed  above,  and  revolves  on  the  same  shaft  with  the 
escapement-wheel ;  it  has  on  its  circumference  twenty-eight  equi- 
distant projections,  on  which  are  engraved,  in  order,  the  alphabet, 
a  dot,  and  a  dash.  The  fourteen  notches  of  the  escapement- 
wheel  cause  twenty-eight  vibrations  of  the  escapement  in  a  revo- 
lution, which  correspond  to  the  characters  on  the  type-wheel. 
Every  vibration  of  the  escapement,  therefore,  makes  the  type- 
wheel  advance  one  letter ;  these  letters  correspond  to  those  on 
the  keys  on  the  composing  machine.  If  any  desired  letter  on  the 
type-wheel  is  placed  in  a  certain  position,  and  a  corresponding 
key  in  the  composing  machine  is  depressed,  by  raising  that  key 
and  again  depressing  it,  the  circuit-wheel  at  one  station,  and  the 
escapement  and  type-wheel  at  the  other  station,  all  make  a  single 
revolution,  which  brings  that  letter  to  its  former  position.  Any 
other  letter  is  brought  to  this  position  by  pressing  down  its  key 
li 


122         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

in  the  composing  machine,  the  circuit  being  broken  and  closed  as 
many  times  as  there  are  letters  between  the  last  one  taken  arid 
the  letter  desired. 

To  form  the  letters  into  words,  it  is  necessary  that  the  printing 
and  composing  machines  should  correspond,  and  for  this  purpose 
a  small  break  and  thumb-screw,  9  and  10,  Fig.  64,  can  be  made 
to  stop  the  type-wheel  at  any  letter.  In  sending  messages  they 
usually  commence  at  the  dash,  or  space  ;  if,  by  accident,  the  type- 
wheel  ceases  to  coincide  with  the  distant  composing  machine,  the 
printing  becomes  confused,  the  operator  stops  the  type-wheel,  sets 
it  at  the  dash,  and  the  printing  goes  on  as  before. 

Above  the  type-wheel,  on  the  same  shaft,  is  the  letter-wheel 
JE,  Fig.  64,  on  the  circumference  of  which  the  letters  are  painted 
in  the  same  order  with  those  on  the  type-wheel  below.  It  is  en- 
cased in  a  steel  hood,  having  an  aperture  in  it  directly  over  where 
the  letters  are  printed,  so  that  when  the  type-wheel  stops  to  print 
a  letter,  the  same  letter  is  made  stationary  for  a  moment  at  the 
aperture,  and  is  readily  distinguished;  hence  messages  can  be 
read,  thus  making  it  a  visual  as  well  as  printing  telegraph. 

Of  late  years  the  hood  has  been  discarded,  the  operator  finding 
no  difficulty  in  reading  from  the  wheel,  with  nothing  to  guide  the 
eye  except  the  habit,  which  long  practice  has  rendered  very 
acute,  of  fixing  the  eye  upon  an  imaginary  point,  which  when  the 
wheel  stops  always  reveals  the  proper  letter.  An  operator  will 
read  a  despatch  coming  at  the  rate  of  2,800  words  an  hour  in 
this  manner,  while  an  inexperienced  person  could  see  nothing  but 
a  confused  mass  of  revolving  letters. 

The  type-wheel  has  twenty-eight  teeth  arranged  on  the  outer 
edge  of  its  upper  surface ;  near  it,  on  the  opposite  side  from 
where  the  printing  is  done,  is  the  shaft  T,  Fig.  64,  revolving  in 
an  opposite  direction.  A  steel  cap,  X,  two  inches  in  diame- 
ter, is  so  attached  to  the  top  of  this  shaft  that  friction  carries 
it  along  with  it,  but  it  can  be  moved  in  the  opposite  direction ; 
it  has  a  small  steel  arm,  three  fourths  of  an  inch  long,  projecting 
from  its  side,  and  playing  against  the  teeth  on  the  type-wheel ; 
while  the  latter  is  revolving,  its  teeth  strike  this  arm,  and  give 
the  cap  a  contrary  motion  to  its  shaft.  There  is  a  pulley  on  this 


HOUSE'S   PRINTING   TELEGRAPH.  123 

shaft,  below  the  plate,  connected  by  a  band  to  M9  Fig.  61 ;  its 
speed  is  less  than  that  of  the  type-wheel.  When  the  type-wheel 
comes  to  rest,  the  arm  falls  between  the  teeth,  but  it  has  not  time 
to  do  so  when  they  are  in  motion.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
cap  to  where  the  arm  is  attached  are  two  raised  edges,  called  de- 
tent pins,  against  which  the  detent  arm  17,  Fig.  64,  alternately 
rests,  as  the  position  of  the  cap  is  altered  by  the  small  arm  that 
plays  on  the  teeth  of  the  type-wheel. 

Between  the  type-wheel  and  cap  is  a  small  lever  and  thumb- 
screw, 9,  Fig.  64,  which  acts  as  a  break  on  the  cap ;  its  motion 
can  be  stopped  by  it  while  the  type-wheel  revolves ;  it  is  used 
merely  to  arrest  the  printing,  though  the  message  may  be  read 
from  the  letter-wheel. 

The  detent  arm  revolves  in  a  horizontal  direction  about  the 
vertical  shaft,  which  is  also  driven  by  a  pulley  beneath  the  steel 
plate ;  when  the  type-wheel  is  at  rest,  the  detent  arm  rests  on 
one  of  the  detent  pins,  but  when  it  moves,  the  teeth  on  its  upper 
surface  give  the  arm  and  cap  a  reverse  direction  to  its  shaft, 
which  alters  the  position  of  the  detent  points,  so  that  the  detent 
arm  is  liberated  from  this  first  pin  and  falls  upon  the  second, 
where  it  remains  until  the  escapement  and  type-wheels  again 
come  to  rest ;  when  this  happens,  the  arm  falls  between  two  of 
the  teeth,  the  cap  resumes  its  first  position,  the  detent  is  let  loose, 
makes  a  revolution,  and  stops  again  on  the  first  pin. 

The  shaft  that  carries  the  detent  arm  has  on  it,  above  the 
arm,  an  eccentric  wheel,  R,  Fig.  64 ;  that  is,  a  wheel  having  its 
axis  of  motion  nearer  one  side  than  the  other,  and  which  while 
revolving  operates  like  a  crank ;  from  this  eccentric  is  a  connect- 
ing-rod, 8,  which  draws  a  toothed  wheel  against  the  type ;  this 
toothed  wheel  is  supported  in  an  elastic  steel  arm  (shut  out  of 
view  by  the  coloring-band),  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  type-wheel 
from  that  of  the  eccentric,  and  revolves  in  a  vertical  direction ; 
the  band  E,  Fig.  61,  carrying  the  coloring  matter  to  print  with, 
passes  between  this  and  the  type ;  the  dots  seen  represent  small 
teeth  that  catch  the  paper  and  draw  it  along  as  the  wheel  re- 
volves, between  itself  and  a  steel  clasp  operated  by  a  spring, 
which  presses  the  paper  against  the  teeth  and  keeps  it  smooth ; 


124  ELECTRIC  TELEGEAPH  APPARATUS. 

the  clasp  is  perforated  in  such  a  manner  that  the  type  print  through 
it ;  there  are  two  rows  of  teeth,  one  above,  the  other  below  the 
orifice. 

The  vertical  wheel,  Fig.  64,  is  embraced  in  a  ring  by  the  con- 
necting-shaft S,  and  a  rotary  motion  is  imparted  to  it  by  a  ratchet 
fixed  to  its  lower  surface,  moving  with  it,  and  catching  against  two 
poles  fastened  to  the  steel  plate  below  it ;  the  poles 
are  pressed  against  the  ratchet  by  springs,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  66  ;  the  wheel  is  octagonal,  and  every  revo- 
lution of  the  eccentric  turns  it  through  one  eighth 
of  a  revolution,  and  therefore  presents  a  firm,  flat 
surface  to  push  the  paper  against  the  type,  and  ad- 
vances sufficiently  for  every  letter,  one  being  printed 
Fig.  66.  eacj1  tjme  the  detent  arm  revolves. 
When  the  type-wheel  stops,  the  detent  arm  revolves,  carry- 
ing with  it  the  eccentric,  which,  through  the  connecting-rod, 
draws  the  toothed  wheel,  having  the  paper  and  coloring-band  be- 
fore it,  against  the  type,  and  an  impression  is  made  upon  the 
paper ;  a  letter  is  printed  if  the  circuit  remains  broken  or  closed 
longer  than  one  tenth  of  a  second ;  three  hundred  letters,  in  the 
form  of  Roman  capitals,  can  be  accurately  printed  per  minute ;  the 
roll  of  paper,  Z,  Fig.  63,  is  supported  on  a  loose  revolving  wire 
framework ;  on  the  same  standard  is  a  small  pulley,  W,  around 
which  one  end  of  the  coloring-band  runs. 

In  transmitting  a  message,  the  machine  is  set  in  motion,  a  sig- 
nal is  given  (which  is  simply  one  break  of  the  circuit),  and  then, 
with  the  communication  before  him,  the  operator  commences  to 
play  like  a  pianist  on  his  key-board,  touching  in  rapid  succession 
those  keys  which  are  marked  with  the  consecutive  letters  of  the 
information  to  be  transmitted.  On  hearing  the  signal,  the  opera- 
tor at  the  receiving  station  sets  his  machine  in  motion ;  then,  set- 
ting his  type  at  the  dash,  sends  back  signal  that  he  is  ready,  and 
the  communication  is  transmitted.  He  can  leave  his  machine,  and 
it  will  print  in  his  absence  ;  in  fact,  the  receiving  operator  has 
nothing  to  do  but  look  occasionally  at  the  strip  of  paper,  and  see 
that  no  false  break  has  occurred  to  interrupt  the  synchronism  of 
Ihe  two  instruments.  When  the  printing  is  finished,  he  tears  off 


HOUSE'S  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH.  125 

the  strip  which  contains  it,  and  folds  it  in  an  envelope,  ready  to 
be  sent  to  any  place  desired.  The  Governor's  Message,  contain- 
ing 5,000  words,  has  been  transmitted  by  this  instrument,  and  pub- 
lished entire  in  New  York,  two  hours  after  its  delivery  in  Albany. 
Over  3,000  words  an  hour  of  press  news,  partly  abbreviated,  are 
frequently  sent  over  the  House  wires  with  a  single  instrument. 
No  other  instrument  in  the  world  has  ever  accomplished  this. 

The  function  of  the  electric  current  in  this  machine,  together 
with  the  condensed  air,  is  to  preserve  equal  time  in  the  printing 
and  composing  apparatus,  that  the  letters  in  one  may  correspond 
with  the  other  ;  the  electrical  pulsations  determine  the  number  of 
spaces  or  letters  which  the  type-wheel  is  permitted  to  advance ; 
they  must  be  at  least  twenty-five  per  second,  to  prevent  the  print- 
ing apparatus  from  acting.  The  intervals  of  time  the  electric  cur- 
rents are  allowed  to  flow  unbroken  are  equal,  and  the  number  of 
magnetic  pulsations  necessary  to  indicate  a  different  succession  of 
letters  is  exceedingly  unequal;  from  A  to  B  will  require  one 
twenty-eighth  of  a  revolution  of  the  type-wheel,  and  one  mag- 
netic pulsation ;  from  A  to  A  will  require  an  entire  revolution  of 
the  type-wheel,  and  twenty-eight  magnetic  pulsations. 

We  presume  it  will  hardly  be  expected  that  the  pulsations  of 
the  House  apparatus  should  furnish  an  audible  means  of  commu- 
nication, and  yet  there  are  operators  possessed  of  such  a  won- 
derful power  of  memory  and  combination  as  to  be  able  to  read 
with  facility  from  this  instrument  by  the  sound  of  the  type-wheel. 
Most,  and  indeed  all  operators,  can  distinguish  a  few  words  in 
this  manner ;  but  Mr.  Rufus  Bollock  stands  alone,  we  believe,  in 
the  possession  of  the  wonderful  power  of  reading  long  communi- 
cations from  the  House  apparatus  by  ear. 

We  have  heard  one  operator,  Mr.  Luby,  play  tunes  upon  this 
instrument  with  very  great  success,  which,  coming  over  the  wire 
a  distance  of  some  hundreds  of  miles,  possessed  a  peculiar  interest 
from  their  novelty. 

The  House  instruments  cannot  work  upon  very  long  circuits, 
because  the  helices  contain  so  large  a  quantity  of  fine  wire  as  to 
offer,  upon  long  lines,  too  much  resistance  to  be  overcome  by  the 
batteries  used. 

11* 


126         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

This  might  be  remedied  by  cutting  out  the  coils  at  the  inter- 
mediate offices,  and  this  is  sometimes  done  with  advantage ;  but 
upon  our  main  lines,  where  the  press  news  is  dropped  at  every 
station,  it  is  desirable  to  have  all  the  offices  receive  the  news  at 
the  same  time,  so  that  it  has  been  found  better  to  divide  the  lines 
into  partial  circuits  of  about  one  hundred  miles  each,  and  repeat 
the  communications  at  the  several  termini  of  the  partial  lines. 

A  Morse  electro-magnet  contains  about  half  a  mile  of  fine  silk- 
wound  copper  wire,  while  a  House  electro-magnet  contains  from 
four  to  six  miles  of  fine  wire,  thus  offering  from  eight  to  twelve 
times  the  resistance  that  a  Morse  magnet  does. 

When  we  take  into  account  that  upon  the  line  between  Boston 
and  New  York  there  are  fifteen  stations,  and  seventy-five  miles  of 
fine  resistance  wire  (equal  to  twelve  hundred  miles  of  No.  8  iron 
wire),  while  the  Morse  line  would  give  but  five  and  a  half,  we 
see  at  once  the  disadvantage  the  House  system  labors  under  in 
this  respect. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  upon  the  House  system,  we  cannot 
forbear  expressing  our  affection  for  it,  which  is  like  that  enter- 
tained for  an  old  friend.  Indeed,  the  instrument  seems  almost 
human;  for  its  operation  is  so  rapid  that  we  can  express  our 
thoughts  as  freely,  and  almost  as  rapidly,  as  by  word  of  mouth ; 
and  then  the  response  comes  back  to  us  in  an  instant,  printed  in 
plain  Roman  letters,  —  our  companions  in  childhood !  Alto- 
gether, it  seems  a  thing  of  life,  and  speaks  to  us  in  a  language 
as  familiar  as  household  words. 


BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH.  127 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH. 

THE  next  system  of  telegraphing  in  the  order  of  its  invention 
and  introduction  in  this  country  is  the  Chemical,  invented  by 
Alexander  Bain,  of  Edinburgh. 

Mr.  Bain  obtained  a  patent  for  his  system  in  England,  in  1846, 
and  applied  for  one  in  this  country  in  1849;  but  was  refused,  upon 
the  ground  of  infringement  upon  the  Morse  patent.  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  opinion  of  the  Patent  Commissioner  that  Mr. 
Morse  held  the  exclusive  right  to  electricity  in  any  form  in  which 
it  could  be  used  for  telegraphic  purposes,  and  that  he  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  Patent  Department  solely  to  maintain  it  for  him. 

Supposing  this  decision  final,  Mr.  Bain  left  Washington  to 
return  to  England,  but  was  met  in  New  York  by  Mr.  Henry 
O'Reilly,  who  induced  him  to  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
He  did  so,  and  the  decision  of  the  Commissioner  was  overruled, 
and  Judge  Cranch  ordered  a  patent  to  be  issued  to  him. 

Immediately  upon  the  granting  of  this  patent,  a  number  of 
public-spirited  and  enterprising  merchants  of  New  York  and 
Boston  set  themselves  at  work  to  build  an  opposition  line  between 
New  York  and  Boston,  to  be  worked  upon  this  system.  The 
monopoly  which  had  existed  since  the  telegraph  lines  had  been 
first  established  was  so  unpopular,  that  the  construction  of  this 
line  was  hailed  as  a  public  blessing. 

The  line  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1849,  and  the  tariff 
between  the  two  cities  reduced  from  fifty  to  thirty  cents  for  ten 
words. 

The  line  worked  admirably,  —  better  than  any  had  previously 
worked  in  this  country,  —  and  business  increased  so  fast,  that  it 
was  necessary  to  put  up  a  second  wire  at  once.  In  the  mean  time, 
lines  working  upon  this  system  were  constructed  between  New 
York  and  Buffalo,  between  New  York  and  Washington,  between 


128        ELECTKIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

New  Orleans,  Louisville,  and  Cincinnati,  between  Boston  and 
Montreal,  and  between  Boston  and  Portland. 

From  this  date  a  new  era  seemed  to  open  in  the  telegraphic 
world.  Business  increased  rapidly;  tariffs  were  reduced;  lines 
improved  in  reliability,  and  public  confidence  began  to  be  secured 
for  the  first  time. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1849,  the  proprietors  of  the  Morse  patent 
commenced  suits  for  the  infringement  of  their  patent  against  the 
New  York  and  Boston,  and  the  New  York  and  Washington,  Bain 
lines.  These  suits  were  kept  in  court  for  nearly  three  years, 
when  it  was  clearly  evident,  if  they  were  pressed  for  decision 
upon  the  merits  of  the  case,  the  Morse  patent  would  be  destroyed, 
and  the  system  thrown  open  to  the  world.  This  result  was,  of 
course,  not  to  be  desired  by  either  party,  and  they  therefore 
agreed  to  consolidate  their  lines  and  use  but  one  patent.  The 
lines  thus  consolidated  between  New  York  and  Boston  were 
called  the  Union  Lines.  They  now  use  the  Morse  system,  as 
they  also  do  upon  all  the  other  consolidated  lines.  There  is  at 
present  but  one  Bain  line  in  operation  in  this  country,  —  the  one 
from  Boston  to  Montreal. 

The  Bain  system,  if  not  the  simplest,  is  one  of  the  simplest 
forms  of  telegraphy  ever  worked.  No  magnetism  is  used,  and 
only  the  chemical  effects  of  the  electric  current  are  necessary. 
A  metallic  disc,  carried  at  a  regular  uniform  rate  of  speed  by 
clock-work,  receives  a  sheet  of  prepared  paper  (Fig.  67).  Upon 
the  paper  rests  a  screw-plate,  which  serves  to  guide  a  pen  in 
regular  spiral  lines  from  the  inner  to  the  outer  surface  of  the 
disc.  The  circuit  is  what  is  known  as  the  "  open  circuit,"  —  that 
is,  the  key  which  throws  the  current  from  the  battery  upon  the 
line  is  always  open  when  a  message  is  being  received  from  a  dis- 
tant station,  and  the  current  passed  through  the  chemically  pre- 
pared paper  to  the  earth,  without  uniting  with  the  home  battery. 
Each  station  is  furnished  with  its  own  battery,  the  negative  pole 
of  which  is  invariably  connected  with  the  earth,  and  the  positive 
pole,  by  the  depression  of  the  key,  with  the  line. 

The  paper  is  prepared  with  a  solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium, 
made  after  the  following  recipe :  Six  parts  prussiate  of  potash, 


BAIN'S  ELECTKO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH. 


129 


dissolved  in  water,  two  nitric  acid,  two  ammonia.  This  solu- 
tion will  scarcely  color  the  paper,  while  it  will  render  it  quite 
sensitive  to  the  electric  current.  The  stylus,  or  pen,  is  made  of 
No.  30  iron  wire.  A  batteiy  of  ten  cups  Grove,  with  the  line 


Fig.  67. 

well  insulated,  will  decompose  the  salts,  and,  uniting  with  the  iron 
stylus,  leave  a  light  blue  mark  upon  the  paper  at  a  distance  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  The  positive  pole  only  produces 
a  colored  mark ;  the  negative  bleaches  the  paper. 

The  catty  or  alarum,  commonly  used  on  the  Bain  lines,  is  rep- 
resented in  Fig.  68.  It  consists  of  a  U-shaped  receiving  magnet, 
placed  horizontally  on  the  board,  with  two  helices  of  wire  sur- 
rounding the  legs.  An  armature,  supported  on  an  upright  bar, 
so  as  to  form  a  cross,  is  seen  in  the  figure  before  the  poles  of  the 
magnet.  This  is  held  back  by  a  delicate  spiral  spring,  graduated 
by  a  screw,  which  is  also  seen  to  the  left.  Above  are  two  circu- 
lar plates  of  glass.  The  upright  bar,  armed  with  two  little 
knobs,  to  perform  the  part  of  a  hammer,  rises  between  these 
plates.  When  the  armature  is  drawn  to  the  magnet,  it  strikes 
one  of  them,  and  on  being  drawn  back  it  strikes  the  other.  As 
they  are  of  different  tone,  the  repetition  of  this  signal  at  once 

i 


130 


ELECTEIC  TELEGEAPH  APPAEATUS. 


Fig.  68. 


draws  attention  to  the  register.  The  duty  of  the  operator  is  then 
to  set  the  clock-work  in  motion,  and  receive  the  message  commu- 
nicated. This  instrument 
can  be  used  also  as  a  re- 
ceiving magnet,  by  pla- 
cing a  platinum  point  on 
the  upright  bar  or  pen- 
dulum, and  a  little  plati- 
num disc  immediately  in 
front  of  it,  so  connected 
that  the  interval  between 
the  point  and  disc  shall 
constitute  the  break  in  a 
local  circuit,  an  additional 
pair  of  screw-cups  for  the 
attachment  of  which  may 
be  seen  upon  the  base- 
board. When  the  arma- 
ture approaches  the  electro-magnet,  it  closes  the  local  circuit,  and 
when  it  recedes  it  breaks  it.  This  is  essentially  the  receiving 
instrument  of  Morse  and  others. 

This  call  is  similar  in  purpose  or  principle  to  those  used  by 
Soemmering  in  1811,  Schilling  in  1831,  and  Henry,  Steinheil, 
and  Wheatsone  in  1836  and  1837. 

The  receiving  magnet,  in  its  improved  form  (Fig.  69),  used  for 
the  purpose  of  combining 
or  connecting  circuits,  is 
closely  allied  in  its  con- 
struction to  the  call,  and 
may  therefore  be  described 
here,  though  already  re- 
ferred to  in  connection  with 
Morse's  telegraph.  The 
armature  is  .mounted  on  an 
upright  bar,  and  is  seen 
forming  part  of  the  cross 
just  in  front  of  the  poles  of  the  horizontal  electro-magnet,  sur- 


Fig.  69. 


BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH.  131 

rounded  with  helices  of  fine  wire.  The  long  or  telegraphic  circuit 
is  connected  with  these  helices  by  means  of  two  of  the  screw-cups 
on  the  board.  When  the  current  flows,  the  armature  is  attracted 
to  the  magnet,  and  the  upright  bar  is  brought  in  contact  with  the 
end  of  the  horizontal  screw,  seen  at  the  top  of  the  instrument 
This  completes  a  local  circuit,  or  branch  circuit  from  the  main 
battery,  the  conductors  of  which  are  connected  with  the  instru- 
ment by  means  of  two  other  screw-cups,  seen  on  the  right  of  the 
board.  The  points  of  contact  of  the  upright  bar  and  screw  are 
protected  from  oxidation  by  the  use  of  platinum. 

The  alphabet  used  by  Bain  is  the  same  in  principle  with  that 
employed  by  Dyar,  Steinheil,  and  also  by  Morse,  consisting  of  com- 
binations of  dots  and  lines.  We  give  on  the  next  page  the  combi- 
nation of  the  dots  and  lines  as  they  were  used  upon  all  the  Bain 
lines  in  this  country ;  and  as  they  are  still  used  upon  the  only 
remaining  line  using  this  system,  and  upon  the  Fire  Alarm  and 
police  telegraph  system  of  Boston.  It  will  be  observed  that  all 
the  letters  begin  with  dots  from  A  to  O,  at  which  point  they  com- 
mence with  a  line,  and  so  continue  to  the  end  of  the  alphabet. 
The  numerals  also  possess  the  same  peculiarity,  and,  it  will  also 
be  noticed,  each  numeral  contains  exactly  five  characters  ;  thus, 
a  dot  and  four  lines  for  1 ;  two  dots  and  three  lines  for  2  ;  three 
dots  and  two  lines  for  3  ;  four  dots  and  one  line  for  4 ;  five  dots 
for  5,  &c. 

When  there  is  no  electric  current  upon  the  wires,  the  pen  leaves 
no  impression  upon  the  paper  ;  but  the  slightest  current  will  pro- 
duce decomposition,  and  the  color  of  the  mark  depends  upon  the 
strength  of  the  current. 

In  this  system  no  local  circuits  are  necessary,  the  battery 
current  which  traverses  the  long  line  doing  its  own  work  upon 
the  paper,  without  the  intervention  of  any  other  force  what- 
ever. There  is  a  disadvantage,  however,  in  the  use  of  this 
telegraph,  with  a  simple  circuit,  where  it  is  desirable  to  register 
the  same  communication  at  a  number  of  different  places,  as  the 
interposition  of  the  paper,  moistened  with  a  saline  solution,  some- 
what obstructs  the  current  The  receiving  magnet  and  register 
used  by  Morse  present  a  metallic  conductor  for  the  current 


132 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


Letters. 

Characters. 

Numerals. 

Characters. 

a 

_  __ 

1 

-  _—  -  _—  -       __ 

b 



2 



c 



3 



d 



4 



6 
f 



6 



9 



7 



h 



8 



i 
j 

_  _  -  _— 

0 

_  __  ___ 

k 



. 



I 



? 

.  

m 



n 



0 



P 



9 



r 

—  _ 

s 
t 

M 



Iv 

V 



w 



y 



z 



throughout,  and  they  can  therefore  be  multiplied  without  serious 
loss.  To  compensate  this  disadvantage,  a  system  of  branch  cir- 
cuits at  way  stations  has  been  devised  in  connection  with  the  Bain 
telegraph,  by  which  communications  can  be  received  at  various 
places  at  the  same  time.  Morse's  instrument  requires  the  time 
taken  by  the  motion  of  the  armature  to  make  each  mark.  The 
decomposition  in  Bain's  instrument  is  instantaneous.  This  is  an 
advantage  where  mechanical  means  are  used  to  complete  and 
break  the  circuit  with  great  rapidity  for  the  purpose  of  rapid 
communication. 

This  system  has  some  advantages  over  any  other  which  has 


BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH.  133 

ever  been  used  in  this  country,  not  the  least  among  which  is  its 
ability  to  work  through  a  heavy  thunder-storm,  which  none  of  the 
other  systems  can  do  without  considerable  danger  both  to  the 
operators  and  the  instruments.  Another  very  considerable  ad- 
vantage which  it  possesses,  is  its  ability  to  work  over  a  greater 
"  escape "  than  any  other.  We  have  known  the  line  between 
Boston  and  New  York  to  do  business  during  a  heavy  rain-storm, 
with  the  wire  actually  lying  upon  the  ground  !  This  was  accom- 
plished in  the  following  manner.  Each  station  transmits  with  its 
own  battery  without  aid  from  any  other ;  therefore,  there  being 
no  intermediate  battery,  if  New  York  got  any  current,  it  must 
come  from  Boston  ;  and  by  putting  on  a  battery  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  Grove  cups,  intelligible  signals  could  be  produced  upon 
the  New  York  instrument,  notwithstanding  there  was  a  heavy 
northeast  storm  raging  at  the  time,  and  the  wire  lay  upon  the 
ground. 

This  system  is  capable  of  working  a  greater  distance,  without 
the  aid  of  relays,  than  any  other,  and  of  working  with  a  smaller 
battery.  We  have  worked  well  between  Boston  and  New  York 
with  but  ten  cups  of  the  Grove  battery,  all  told ;  and  have  worked 
well  between  Boston  and  Buffalo,  via  New  York  city,  without  the 
intervention  of  repeaters  or  auxiliary  batteries. 

But  with  these  numerous  advantages  over  the  other  systems 
there  are  some  disadvantages.  No  other  system  is  so  much 
troubled  by  magnetic  storms,  —  such,  for  instance,  as  the  aurora 
borealis,  which  always  renders  operation  difficult,  if  it  does  not 
suspend  it  entirely.  Then,  .again,  the  prepared  paper  is  un- 
healthy to  breathe,  and  the  fine  spiral  lines  upon  the  paper  are 
injurious  to  the  eyes.  But  it  must  be  conceded  that  no  other  sys- 
tem of  telegraphing,  or  at  least  no  other  lines,  ever  possessed  the 
confidence  and  good-will  of  the  public  to  such  an  extent  as  these. 
It  is,  doubtless,  as  much  owing  to  the  result  of  good  management 
upon  the  part  of  the  proprietors  of  these  lines,  as  of  any  peculiar 
excellence  in  the  system. 

In  the  above  description  of  the  electro-chemical  telegraph, 
invented  by  Alexander  Bain,  we  have  confined  ourselves  to  the 
form  under  which  his  admirable  system  worked  upon  the  leading 
12 


134        ELECTKIG  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

lines  in  this  country,  from  1849  to  1852  ;  but  it  would  be  doing 
Mr.  Bain  a  manifest  injustice  not  to  mention  his  method  for  rapid 
writing,  which,  in  theory,  could  transmit  intelligence  with  the 
greatest  accuracy  at  the  astonishing  rate  of  five  thousand  words 
per  hour ;  or,  to  compare  the  system  with  other  recording  sys- 
tems in  use,  twice  as  fast  as  the  House,  over  three  times  as  fast 
as  the  Morse  and  Hughes,  and  eight  times  as  fast  as  the  needle 
telegraph  of  Cooke  and  Wheatstone  ! 

To  accomplish  this  wonderful  result,  he  caused  long  strips  of 
narrow  paper  to  be  perforated  with  arbitrary  characters,  resem- 
bling those  used  upon  the  Morse  lines.  A  small  hand-punch 
fastened  to  a  table  enabled  the  operator  to  prepare  the  paper  with 
great  facility.  When  so  prepared,  it  was  passed  between  two 
insulated  rollers,  one  of  which  connected  with  a  battery,  and  the 
other  with  the  earth.  In  connection  with  the  upper  roller  is  a 
small  metallic  comb,  whose  teeth  pass  through  the  perforations 
in  the  punched  paper,  and,  coming  in  contact  with  the  under 
roller,  complete  the  circuit.  It  is  only  necessary  to  have,  upon 
the  receiving  instrument,  the  paper  prepared  with  the  solution  of 
cyanide  of  potassium,  and  the  stylus  resting  upon  its  surface,  the 
paper  carried  at  the  same  rate  of  speed  as  the  transmitting 
instrument,  and  you  have,  at  the  distant  station,  a  correct  fac- 
simile of  the  copy  to  be  transmitted.  To  show  the  importance 
of  this  invention,  we  will  suppose  the  system  to  be  in  operation 
between  Boston  and  Halifax.  A  steamer  arrives  from  Europe, 
and  a  despatch  of  three  thousand  words  has  been  made  up  on 
board,  and  the  whole  composed  upon  the  slip  of  paper  in  these 
arbitrary  characters.  No  sooner  does  the  steamer  arrive  at  the 
wharf  than  the  despatch  is  handed  into  the  telegraph  office,  and 
in  a  little  over  thirty  minutes  the  entire  despatch  is  in  State 
Street. 

This  is  no  imaginary,  fanciful  sketch,  but  is  what  can  be  per- 
formed upon  the  arrival  of  every  steamer,  with  just  as  much  cer- 
tainty, correctness,  and  ease  as  we  can  transmit  a  letter  to  New 
York  through  Uncle  Sam's  mail,  or  a  telegram  over  the  wires  at 
the  present  rate.  Or,  we  will  suppose  a  speech  to  have  been 
deli vered  at  twelve  o'clock  in  Washington ;  a  corps  of  operators 


BAIN'S  ELECTKO-CHEMICAL  TELEGKAPH.  135 

prepare  the  copy,  and,  in  thirty  minutes,  it  is  ready  for  the  press 
in  Boston.  Let  this  system  be  introduced,  and  the  imagination 
revel  among  marvellous  accomplishments  as  it  will,  it  cannot 
exceed  the  actual  results  which  will  be  obtained. 

The  question  which  will  be  at  once  raised  by  the  reader  is, 
Why,  if  this  is  practicable,  has  it  never  been  accomplished  ? 

We  will  explain  this  seeming  contradiction.  At  the  time  Mr. 
Bain  introduced  his  rapid  system  to  public  notice,  there  was  no 
governor  capable  of  regulating  the  speed  of  an  instrument  which 
should  make  the  number  of  revolutions  necessary  to  accomplish 
this  great  result.  Mr.  Bain  endeavored  to  use  the  pendulum  and 
escapement,  but  these  could  not  be  made  to  vibrate  with  sufficient 
rapidity  to  accomplish  the  result.  In  1855,  Mr.  Hughes  invented 
a  spring-governor,  which,  were  it  applied  to  the  invention  of  Mr. 
Bain,  would  enable  it  to  produce  all  the  results  which  I  have 
pointed  out.  In  the  succeeding  year,  1856,  Mr.  G.  M.  Phelps,of 
Troy,  an  exceedingly  intelligent  mechanic,  and  well  versed  in  the 
application  of  electricity  to  telegraphy,  invented  an  electro-mag- 
netic governor,  which  can  be  applied  to  a  machine  so  as  to  regu- 
late the  speed  at  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  revolutions  per 
minute.  Two  machines,  with  these  governors  attached,  will  run 
together  for  hours  without  the  variation  of  a  second !  In  describ- 
ing the  combination  instrument,  at  present  very  successfully 
worked  upon  the  wires  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company,  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  describe  the  modus  operandi  of  this  beauti- 
ful invention  of  Mr.  Phelps.  For  our  present  purpose  it  is 
enough  to  show,  that,  were  Mr.  Phelps's  invention  applied  to 
this  instrument  of  Mr.  Bain,  it  would  enable  it  to  take  the 
lead  of  every  other  system  in  the  world  for  correctness,  rapid- 
ity, and  economy  in  the  transmission  of  intelh'gence  by  the  electric 
telegraph. 

A  great  number  of  chemical  telegraphs,  based  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  Mr.  Bain's,  have  been  devised,  two  of  which  we  will 
briefly  mention. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Bake  well,  of  London,  brought  out,  in  1850,  an 
apparatus  called  the  Copying  Telegraph,  by  which  despatches 
were  transmitted  in  the  handwriting  of  correspondents.  The 


136        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

advantages  of  this  mode  of  transmission  are,  that  the  communi- 
cations may  be  authenticated  by  the  recognized  signatures  of  the 
parties  by  whom  they  are  sent ;  and  as  the  writing  received  is 
traced  from  the  original  message,  there  can  be  no  errors  of  trans- 
mission ;  for  every  letter  or  mark  made  with  the  pen  is  trans- 
ferred exactly  to  the  other  instrument,  however  distant. 

The  despatch  is  written  on  tinfoil,  with  a  pen  dipped  in  var- 
nish. The  letters  thus  written  form  on  the  conducting  metal  sur- 
face a  number  of  non-conducting  marks,  sufficient  to  interrupt  the 
electric  current,  though  the  deposit  of  resinous  matter  is  so  slight 
as  not  to  be  perceptible  to  the  touch. 

The  message  on  tinfoil  is  fixed  round  a  cylinder  at  the  trans- 
mitting instrument,  which  instrument  is  a  counterpart  in  its  me- 
chanical arrangements  of  the  receiving  one,  and  either  of  them 
may  be  used  to  transmit  and  receive  messages.  A  metal  style  in 
connection  with  the  battery  presses  on  the  tinfoil,  and  is  carried 
along  by  an  endless  screw  as  the  cylinder  revolves,  exactly  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  steel  wire  that  draws  lines  on  the  paper 
on  the  receiving  instrument.  The  varnish  writing,  when  it  inter- 
poses between  the  style  and  the  tinfoil,  stops  the  electric  current ; 
consequently,  at  every  part  where  the  electric  current  is  stopped 
by  the  varnish  at  one  instrument,  the  steel  wire  ceases  to  make 
marks  upon  the  paper  at  the  other  station.  Both  cylinders  are 
so  regulated  that  they  rotate  exact.ly  together;  therefore  the 
successive  breaks  of  the  electric  current  by  the  varnish  letters 
cause  corresponding  gaps  to  be  made  in  the  lines  on  the  paper ; 
and  the  succession  of  these  lines,  with  their  successive  gaps 
where  the  letters  occur,  produces  on  the  paper  of  the  receiving 
instrument  the  exact  forms  of  the  letters.  The  letters  appear  of 
a  white  or  pale  color  on  a  ground  of  blue  lines,  there  being  about 
nine  or  ten  lines  drawn  by  the  wire  to  make  one  line  of  writing. 

M.  Caselli  of  Florence  has  been  engaged  for  some  years  upon 
a  new  electro-chemical  telegraph,  which  he  has  named  Panto- 
graphic.  This  instrument  reproduces  upon  ordinary  paper,  in 
colored  characters,  a  perfectly  exact  image  (a  foe-simile]  of  the 
writing,  or  of  any  design,  that  is  required  to  be  transmitted  from 
one  station  to  the  other.  The  despatch  is  written  upon  tinfoil,  as 


BAIN'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   TELEGRAPH  137 

in  the  case  of  Bakewell's,  but  the  copy,  instead  of  being  white 
upon  a  blue  ground,  is  blue  upon  a  white  ground.  By  means  of 
a  peculiar  combination,  which  constitutes  one  of  the  most  original 
and  ingenious  parts  of  M.  Caselli's  telegraphic  system,  the  alter- 
ation in  the  intensity  of  the  current,  produced  by  the  resistance 
of  the  ink  to  the  passage  of  the  electricity,  —  greater  than  that 
which  is  presented  by  the  metallic  surface  of  the  paper,  —  brings 
about  a  reversal  of  polarity  in  the  point  of  the  receiver.  From 
having  been  negative,  it  becomes  positive,  which  produces  upon 
the  paper  a  coloring,  whence  there  results  an  assemblage  of 
colored  lines  and  points,  which  reproduce  the  perfect  image  of 
the  original  despatch.  The  instantaneous  reversal  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  current  produces  a  chemical  effect  so  rapidly  that  the 
most  delicate  traces  of  writing  and  drawing  may  in  this  manner 
be  reproduced  immediately.  The  peculiar  method  by  which  M. 
Caselli  accomplishes  this  instantaneous  reversal  of  polarity  he  will 
not  make  known,  and  it  has  excited  the  interest  of  many  philos- 
ophers in  Europe,  and  among  them  De  la  Rive,  who  says :  "  It 
would  be  desirable  that  M.  Caselli  should  make  known  the  com- 
bination by  means  of  which  he  obtains  this  result,  by  which  he 
succeeds  in  so  instantaneously  reversing  the  direction  of  a  current, 
in  such  a  manner  that  no  appreciable  time  elapses  between  the 
passage  of  the  current  in  one  direction  and  its  passage  in  the  con- 
trary direction,  as  it  might,  in  its  application,  lead  to  very  inter- 
esting results,  particularly  as  far  as  concerns  the  relations  that 
exist  between  the  molecular  constitution  of  bodies,  and  the  effects 
that  are  produced  upon  them  by  the  transmission  of  electricity." 

We  do  not  know  whether  we  have  discovered  M.  Caselli's 
method  or  not,  but  we  have  accomplished  the  results  obtained  by 
him  in  the  following  manner.  At  the  transmitting  station  we 
place  in  the  circuit  of  a  long  telegraphic  line  a  battery  of  twenty 
of  Grove's  cells,  with  the  negative  pole  to  the  line ;  and  at  the 
receiving  station  a  battery  of  three  of  Grove's  cells,  with  the 
positive  pole  to  the  line.  Now,  when  no  obstacle  intervenes,  the 
larger  battery  neutralizes  the  smaller,  and,  its  current  being  nega- 
tive, leaves  no  mark  upon  the  paper ;  but  when  the  pen-wire, 
which  forms  a  portion  of  the  circuit,  comes  in  contact  with  the 
12* 


138         ELECTKIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

writing  upon  the  cylinder,  a  great  resistance  is  offered,  which 
enables  the  small  battery  at  the  receiving  station  to  come  into 
action  and  record  upon  the  paper  just  so  long  as  the  ink  inter- 
poses the  resistance  to  the  large  battery. 

Dr.  Lardner  gives  an  account  of  a  very  remarkable  tele- 
graphic feat  which  he  witnessed  in  Paris  some  years  since,  and 
which,  we  presume,  must  have  been  accomplished  by  Bain's  fast 
method.  The  following  experiment  was  prepared  and  performed 
at  the  suggestion  of  M.  Leverrier  and  Dr.  Lardner.  Two  wires, 
extending  from  the  room  in  which  they  operated  to  Lille,  were 
united  at  the  latter  place,  so  as  to  form  one  continuous  wire,  ex- 
tending to  Lille  and  back,  making  a  total  distance  of  336  miles. 
This  however,  not  being  deemed  sufficient  for  the  purpose,  sev- 
eral coils  of  wire  wrapped  with  silk  were  obtained,  measuring  in 
their  total  length  746  miles,  and  were  joined  to  the  extremity  of 
the  wire  returning  from  Lille,  thus  making  one  continuous  wire, 
measuring  1,082  miles.  A  message  consisting  of  282  words  was 
then  transmitted  from  one  end  of  the  wire.  A  pen  attached  to 
the  other  end  immediately  began  to  write  the  message  on  a  sheet 
of  paper,  moved  under  it  by  a  simple  mechanism,  and  the  entire 
message  was  written  in  full  in  the  presence  of  the  committee, 
each  word  being  spelled  completely,  and  without  abridgment,  in 
fifty-two  seconds,  being  at  the  average  rate  of  Jive  words  and  four 
tenths  per  second  ! 

By  this  instrument,  therefore,  it  is  practicable  to  transmit  in- 
telligence to  a  distance  of  upwards  of  one  thousand  miles,  at  the 
rate  of  19,500  words  per  hour ! 


THE  HUGHES   SYSTEM.  139 

' 

/IIYEESITY) 

CHAPTER    &&ij 


THE  HUGHES  SYSTEM. 

AFTER  ten  years  of  persevering  labor,  Mr.  David  E.  Hughes, 
of  Kentucky,  produced,  in  1855,  a  printing  instrument  upon  an 
entirely  new  principle,  which,  for  simplicity  and  ability  to  work 
upon  long  circuits,  is  unrivalled.  A  patent  was  obtained  in  this 
country  in  1855  and  in  1858. 

This  instrument  belongs  to  the  synchronous  class  of  electro- 
magnetic printing  telegraphs.  It  is  unlike  any  other  recording 
telegraph,  although  in  its  general  appearance  it  resembles  the 
House.  The  resemblance,  however,  goes  no  further.  There  is 
also  a  resemblance,  in  the  idea  merely,  to  the  telegraph  invented 
by  Francis  Ronalds  in  1817,  which  we  have  briefly  described  in 
a  previous  chapter.  To  avoid  misapprehension,  we  will  point  out 
here  in  what  the  resemblance  consists. 

Ronalds's  machines  were  carried  by  clock-work ;  set  to  the 
same  time,  and  run  together.  The  letters  were  placed  upon  the 
face  of  a  dial,  which  contained  an  aperture  through  which  one 
letter  only  could  be  seen.  When  the  letter  which  it  was  desired 
to  transmit  appeared  at  the  aperture,  an  electric  discharge  an- 
nounced the  fact  by  deflecting  a  small  pith-ball.  Magnetism  was 
not,  at  that  time,  sufficiently  developed  in  theory  even  to  be 
made  use  of  for  telegraphic  purposes.  In  fact,  it  was  not  until 
1820  that  Ampere  proposed  a  system  of  telegraphy,  which  con- 
sisted in  employing  the  instantaneous  action  that  is  exercised  upon 
the  magnetized  needle  by  the  current. 

Now  Mr.  Hughes  has  made  use  of  the  synchronous  idea  of 
having  the  machines  run  together ;  only,  instead  of  the  plain 
clock-movement  and  the  pendulum,  which  would  be  altogether 
too  slow,  he  has  invented  a  very  ingenious  contrivance,  called  a 
spring-governor.  This  is  nothing  more  than  a  vibrating  spring, 
which  depends  for  its  action  upon  a  well-known  law  of  acous- 
tics ;  namely,  that  a  certain  number  of  vibrations  per  second  pro- 


140  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

duces  a  certain  musical  tone ;  consequently,  if  there  are  two  or 
more  springs  of  the  same  tone,  they  invariably  give  the  same 
number  of  vibrations  per  second.  These  springs,  by  their  vibra- 
tions, control  an  escapement,  which  regulates  the  speed  of  the 
instrument ;  and  all  springs  of  similar  tone  must  revolve  in  the 
same  time.  Therefore,  if  all  the  instruments  upon  a  telegraph 
line  are  set  to  the  same  tone,  they  will  all  run  together,  with 
almost  as  much  accuracy  as  so  many  finely  balanced  chronome- 
ters. The  type-wheel  resembles  that  of  the  House  instrument  in 
form  and  fashion,  but  is  entirely  different  in  application  and  move- 
ment. Instead  of  stopping  for  the  letter  to  be  printed,  as  in  the 
House  instrument,  it  prints  the  letter  while  in  motion,  and  while 
actually  performing  one  hundred  and  thirty  revolutions  per  min- 
ute! It  also  prints  the  letter  with  ink  upon  the  paper  itself, 
instead  of,  as  in  the  House,  pressing  the  blackened  ribbon  against 
the  paper. 

Like  the  House  instrument,  it  has  reduced  the  labor  to  be  per- 
formed by  the  electric  current  to  the  lowest  possible  point ;  but, 
unlike  the  House,  which  requires  seven  vibrations  upon  an  aver- 
age for  each  letter,  —  or  the  Morse,  which  is  based  upon  the 
number  of  waves  sent,  as  well  as  the  length  of  time  occupied  in 
sending  them,  and  which  upon  an  average  requires  three  and  a 
half,  —  this  system  requires  but  one.  It  had  long  been  consid- 
ered a  desideratum  to  print  a  letter  at  every  impulse ;  but  noth- 
ing approaching  it  had  ever  been  obtained  until  the  production 
of  this  incomparable  instrument  by  Mr.  Hughes. 

By  a  combination  of  the  natural  magnet  and  the  electro-mag- 
net, Mr.  Hughes  has  obtained  one  of  remarkable  sensibility ;  the 
mere  contact  of  a  piece  of  zinc  against  a  copper  wire  being  found 
sufficiently  powerful  to  work  it  with  facility. 

The  vibrating  spring  has  attached  to  it  an  adjusting  bar,  which 
can  be  set  to  make  any  number  of  vibrations ;  but  the  usual 
number  for  ordinary  purposes  of  business  allows  one  hundred 
and  twenty  revolutions  of  the  type-wheel  per  minute.  The 
type-wheel  always  starts  from  the  dash  ;  consequently,  if  the 
type-wheels  all  along  the  line  are  started  from  the  same  point, 
and  run  at  precisely  the  same  speed,  making  exactly  the  same 
number  of  revolutions  per  minute,  it  follows  that  the  same  letter 


THE  HUGHES   SYSTEM.  141 

must  present  itself  in  the  same  place  upon  all  the  type-wheels  in 
communication  at  the  same  moment.  Behind  the  type-wheel 
there  is  a  small  press,  so  arranged  that,  when  it  is  thrown  in  con- 
nection with  the  type-wheel  by  the  projecting  arm  of  a  revolving 
cam,  it  allows  but  one  letter  to  be  made,  and  then  falls  back  to  its 
original  position,  until  again  thrown  in  connection  by  contact  with 
another  arm.  The  printing  cam,  which  is  propelled  by  friction, 
is  held  by  a  small  detent  attached  to  the  keeper  of  the  combina- 
tion-magnet. The  keeper,  when  released  from  the  magnet,  is 
carried  back  by  a  spring  ;  and  the  only  service  performed  by  the 
electric  current  is  to  neutralize  the  magnetism  in  the  natural 
magnet,  by  causing  magnetism  of  an  opposite  polarity  to  be 
created  in  the  poles  of  the  electro-magnet.  As  we  have  men- 
tioned above,  so  extremely  sensitive  is  this  magnet  thus  arranged, 
that  a  piece  of  zinc  placed  in  contact  with  a  copper  wire  has  been 
found  powerful  enough  to  work  it  with  ease. 

This  would  seem  to  be  reducing  the  necessary  power  of  the 
electric  current  to  a  wonderful  point ;  but  when  we  come  to  add, 
that  it  takes  but  one  wave  of  this  exceedingly  delicate  battery  to 
print  a  letter  in  plain  Roman  character,  the  feat  becomes  perfectly 
marvellous.  Indeed,  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole  range  of 
electrical  science  so  surprising  as  the  accomplishment  of  this 
wonderful  result.  If  the  question  had  been  asked  of  the  best 
mechanic  in  the  world,  if  he  could  make  two  machines  which 
should  perform  one  hundred  and  twenty  revolutions  per  minute, 
and  run  together  so  as  not  to  vary  for  two  hours  to  the  twentieth 
part  of  a  second,  we  fear  he  would  have  replied  that  the  thing 
was  impossible ;  and  yet  Mr.  Hughes  has  accomplished  more  than 
this,  —  he  has  run  his  instruments  up  to  one  hundred  and  forty 
revolutions  per  minute,  and  continued  them  in  operation  all  day 
without  a  change  of  adjustment 

The  key-board  contains  twenty-eight  keys,  like  that  of  the 
House,  and  is  operated  upon  in  the  same  manner.  Suppose  a 
cylinder  to  contain  twenty-eight  spaces,  arranged  around  the  cir- 
cumference at  equal  distances,  and  a  peg  upon  the  end  of  each 
key  to  be  so  arranged  that,  upon  being  depressed,  it  should  be 
able  to  enter  the  space  allotted  to  it  once  during  each  revolution  ; 
that,  upon  entering  the  space,  it  should  close  the  circuit;  that 


142        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

by  closing  the  circuit  it  should  release  the  magnet-keeper,  and 
that  by  such  release  the  detent  should  become  detached  from  the 
revolving  cam,  which  in  revolving  should  throw  the  press  against 
the  type-wheel,  and  take  off  a  letter.  By  following  out  this  sup- 
position, you  have  the  whole  mystery  of  this  wonderful  instrument 
at  once. 

The  armature,  or  keeper  of  the  magnet,  is  restored  to  its 
place  by  means  of  a  lever,  which  acts  upon  it  at  the  moment  it  is 
pulled  away  from  the  electro-magnet  poles  by  the  spring. 

This  system  requires  but  about  one  tenth  of  the  battery  power 
required  to  work  the  House  system,  and  perhaps  one  third  that 
of  the  Morse.  The  instruments  are  run  by  a  weight,  which  is 
wound  up  by  a  treadle.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  imagined  that  the 
machinery  necessary  to  produce  results  so  remarkable  should  be 
of  a  complicated  character  ;  such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The 
machinery  is  very  simple,  consisting  mainly  of  four  clock-wheels 
used  to  turn  the  type-wheel,  circuit-wheel,  and  printing-cam. 

There  is  no  other  system  capable  of  working  upon  so  long  a 
circuit  of  wire  without  the  aid  of  repeaters,  if  all  that  is  said  of  it 
by  its  friends  is  to  be  credited ;  but  upon  this  point  we  confess  we 
have  not  yet  seen  sufficient  evidence. 

We  do  not,  however,  see  the  practical  benefit  to  be  gained  by 
a  system  which  can  be  worked  at  a  greater  distance  than  the 
Morse.  The  business  over  any  line,  even  in  this  extensive 
country,  is  mainly  confined  to  points  of  less  than  three  hundred 
miles  apart.  It  would  be  desirable,  doubtless,  to  have  direct 
communication  between  Boston  and  California  ;  but  even  if 
there  were  systems  capable  of  reaching  that  distant  point  upon 
a  single  circuit,  the  insulation,  unless  greatly  improved  upon  our 
present  lines,  would  never  allow  a  current  to  reach  there  upon 
one  circuit.  But  this  matter  of  insulation  is  one  of  vital  impor- 
tance, and  will  be  treated  upon  in  another  chapter. 

There  is  one  more  point  in  the  splendid  achievement  of  Mr. 
Hughes  which  should  not  be  passed  over  in  silence,  although  of 
no  practical  value  ;  and  that  is  his  arrangement  for  working  both 
ways  over  the  same  wire  at  the  same  time.  This,  however,  has 
been  accomplished  in  Europe  by  several  ingenious  electricians, 
namely,  MM.  Gintl,  "Wartmann,  Siemens,  Halske,  and  Edlung, 


THE  HUGHES  SYSTEM.  143 

who  have  solved  the  problem  of  the  transmission  of  two  or  more 
despatches  over  the  same  wire  at  the  same  time,  by  processes 
entirely  different. 

An  ingenious  electrician  in  this  city  prepared  a  modification  of 
MM.  Siemens  and  Halske's  invention,  which  was  designed  to  be 
used  upon  the  Morse  lines.  It  was  tested  between  this  city  and 
Portland,  and  found  to  work  well.  The  operator  at  this  end 
of  the  line  actually  sent  despatches  to  Portland  at  the  same 
instant  that  the  Portland  operator  was  sending  a  despatch  to 
Boston  over  the  same  wire !  The  despatches  did  not  interfere 
with  each  other  in  the  least.  But,  as  we  remarked  before, 
there  is  no  practical  benefit  to  be  derived  from  this.  It  would 
require,  of  course,  a  double  force  of  operators  to  work  a  wire 
in  this  manner,  and  there  are  always  questions  to  be  asked 
back  and  forth,  which  would  cause  confusion  if  they  had  to  pass 
from  the  sender  to  the  receiver,  and  vice  versa.  Besides  this, 
a  finer  balancing  of  batteries  upon  the  line  would  be  necessary, 
to  accomplish  this  result,  than  could  practically  be  obtained. 
The  experiment,  although  extremely  interesting,  is  of  no  practical 
utility. 

The  cost  of  a  Hughes  instrument  is  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars,  —  varying  according  to  the  maker.  The  cost  has 
heretofore  been  augmented  by  the  experiments  which  have  been 
made,  and  the  numerous  improvements  suggested.  It  will,  of 
course,  become  cheaper  whenever  a  settled  plan  shall  be  agreed 
upon. 

The  system  is  easily  learned,  —  a  man  of  quick  apprehension 
becoming  quite  an  expert  operator  in  a  few  weeks. 

Altogether,  Hughes's  printing  telegraph  is  entitled  to  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  inventions  of  the  age,  and,  had  he  pre- 
ceded Morse,  House,  and  Bain,  it  would  have  entitled  him  to  the 
first  place  among  inventors. 

Mr.  Hughes  is  confident  that  his  instrument  would  have  worked 
through  the  Atlantic  Cable.  Had  it  accomplished  this,  it  would 
have  ranked  as  the  first  recording  telegraph  in  the  world,  per- 
forming what  no  other  recording  instrument  could  possibly  have 
achieved.  It  is,  therefore,  much  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Hughes 
did  not  have  the  opportunity  to  make  the  trial. 


144        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  AMERICAN    PRINTING  TELEGRAPH,   OR  THE  COMBINATION 

SYSTEM. 

THE  last  chapter  gave  a  sketch  of  the  printing  instrument  of 
Mr.  Hughes,  as  it  was  used  a  few  months  ago  in  the  Boston 
office,  upon  the  lines  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company. 
There  have,  however,  been  found  some  practical  objections  to 
this  instrument^  and  among  them  some  which  were  claimed  by 
Mr.  Hughes  as  among  the  chief  excellences  of  his  system.  We 
allude  now,  particularly,  to  the  use  of  the  combined  natural  and 
electro-magnet,  and  the  use  of  a  weight  for  carrying  the  machine. 
Mr.  Hughes,  in  conceiving  that  his  instruments  could  be  carried 
by  weight,  considered  that  he  had  accomplished  a  great  saving  in 
labor  and  expense.  It  has  proved,  however,  upon  the  contrary, 
that  this  has  not  been  an  improvement.  In  order  that  the  instru- 
ments should  run  with  sufficient  speed  to  answer  their  require- 
ments, it  was  necessary  to  have  a  larger  number  of  wheels,  when 
carried  by  weight,  than  when  carried  by  treadle.  This  will  be 
obvious  to  any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  machinery.  And,  in 
order  to  accomplish  both  of  these  results,  it  was  necessary  to  have 
the  machinery  made  very  light.  Now,  the  machinery  being  light, 
and  running  with  such  rapidity,  it  was  constantly  breaking  and 
giving  out  in  one  place  or  another  all  the  time,  and  the  conse- 
quence was  that  resort  was  again  had  to  the  treadle. 

The  second  objection  which  we  have  alluded  to  was  still  more 
serious.  The  combination  of  the  natural  and  electro-magnet, 
which  produced  results  so  sensitive,  has  come  to  be  condemned 
on  account  of  its  very  sensitiveness.  But  to  make  this  clear  to 
the  reader,  we  will  explain  the  matter  briefly.  If  a  line  were 
constructed  between  this  city  and  New  York,  for  instance,  per- 
fectly insulated,  (a  circumstance  that  has  never  yet  occurred,)  and 
no  atmospheric  currents  had  any  influence  upon  the  line,  it  is 


THE  .COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  145 

obvious  that  the  system  requiring  the  least  battery  —  everything 
else  being  equal  —  would  be  the  most  desirable.  But  as  none  of 
these  conditions  are  to  be  met  with,  it  happens  that  it  is  not 
desirable  to  work  a  line  with  such  feeble  current.  There  is  but 
a  small  part  of  the  time,  in  any  season  of  the  year,  when  there 
are  not  more  or  less  atmospheric  currents  to  disturb  the  equi- 
librium of  the  lines ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  magnetic  storm,  or 
aurora  borealis;  and,  therefore,  the  more  sensitive  the  magnet, 
the  more  interruptions  will  it  experience  from  such  extraneous 
sources.  The  Hughes  instrument  was  peculiarly  liable  to  such 
interruptions ;  and,  without  trespassing  too  far  upon  the  limits 
designed  for  this  chapter,  we  will  briefly  allude  to  one  or  two  of 
them. 

During  the  magnetic  storm  which  culminated  in  the  aurora 
borealis  of  August  28  and  September  2,  1859,  the  Hughes 
instrument  at  West  Brookfield  was  unable  to  work  for  nearly 
a  week.  The  operator,  not  being  sufficiently  versed  in  the 
theory  of  magnetic  induction  to  ascribe  the  matter  to  its  true 
cause,  went  over  the  line  a  great  number  of  times  in  search 
of  the  trouble,  but,  of  course,  without  success.  Within  the  past 
few  years,  during  which  the  Hughes  instruments  have  been 
used  upon  the  lines  between  Boston  and  New  York,  they 
have  ceased  to  work  during  heavy  rain-storms,  owing  to  the 
"  escape,"  and  the  business  of  the  line  has  been  done  over  the 
House  wires ;  that  system  being  able  to  work  over  a  greater 
escape. 

To  obviate  these  difficulties,  the  company,  through  the  aid  of 
that  ingenious  mechanic  and  able  electrician,  Mr.  G.  M.  Phelps, 
of  Troy,  has  succeeded  in  producing  an  instrument  which  unites 
all  the  excellences  of  the  Hughes  system  and  that  of  Mr.  House. 
This  production  has  been  very  appropriately  designated  as  the 
combination  instrument. 

This  instrument  (see  Frontispiece)  retains  the  synchronous 
movement  of  the  type-wheel,  the  simple  form  of  the  press,  the 
frictional  movement  of  the  cam,  the  correctors,  and  the  detent,  of 
the  original  Hughes  invention  ;  but  borrows  from  the  House  sys- 
tem the  double-headed  cylinder  or  plunger,  the  air-pump,  chamber, 
13  j 


146         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

and  valve  ;  and,  in  addition,  contains  the  electro-magnetic  gov- 
ernor invented  by  Mr.  Phelps.  It  also  uses  the  simple  form  of 
the  U  magnet  invented  by  Professor  Henry  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  and  which  is  used  upon  the  Morse  system. 

Upon  the  combination  lines  the  open  circuit  is  used.  The 
valve  fits  into  an  air-tight  chamber,  and,  being  made  of  soft 
iron,  acts  as  a  keeper  to  the  U  magnet  situated  under  it.  The 
valve  is  raised  by  a  spring,  and  depressed  by  the  passage  of  a 
current  through  the  electro-magnet.  The  plunger,  which  is  con- 
tiguous to  the  valve,  has  an  air-passage  from  each  end  to  the 
air-chamber  of  the  valve,  by  the  depression  of  which  a  current 
of  air  is  forced  into  one  end,  and  by  the  raising  of  which  it 
is  forced  into  the  other  extremity.  In  the  centre  of  the  plunger 
one  end  of  the  detent  is  placed.  "When  the  circuit  is  open, 
the  plunger  forces  the  detent  against  a  projecting  arm  upon 
the  cam ;  when  it  is  closed,  the  plunger  forces  the  detent  away 
from  the  arm  of  the  cam,  which  is  then  carried  around  by  the 
friction  until  it  comes  into  contact  with  the  press,  forcing  it 
against  the  type-wheel,  and  taking  off  the  letter  which  at  that 
instant  presents  itself.  Around  the  surface,  and  under  the  type- 
wheel,  are  twenty-eight  cogs,  corresponding  to  the  twenty-six  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet,  and  a  dot  and  a  dash.  The  press  is  com- 
posed of  a  tube  an  inch  long,  with  cogs  at  the  lower  end,  which, 
by  being  thrown  forward  by  the  movement  of  the  liberated  cam, 
locks  into  the  cogs  upon  the  type-wheel,  and  is  made  to  revolve 
with  it  as  long  as  the  contact  lasts ;  but  as  it  takes  but  one  wave 
to  release  the  detent,  which  is  again  applied  to  the  cam  as  soon 
as  the  circuit  opens,  it  follows  that  the  press  is  only  kept  in  con- 
tact long  enough  to 'form  one  letter,  and  to  pass  one  cog.  A 
small,  semicircular  spring  confines  the  strip  of  paper  between  it 
and  the  tube,  and  when  the  tube  is  carried  around  one  notch,  the 
paper  is  drawn-  along  by  friction.  The  press  itself  is  thrown 
back  from  the  type-wheel  by  a  spring  at  the  instant  the  arm  of 
the  liberated  printing-cam  releases  it. 

Under  the  cogs  above  described  upon  the  type-wheel,  there  is 
a  second  set  of  cogs ;  and  upon  the  cam  there  are  six  projecting 
cog?,  which  fit  into  the  spaces  between  the  cogs  upon  the  type- 


THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  147 

wheel,  and  serve  as  correctors.  In  this  manner  the  instruments 
are  prevented  from  varying  to  the  hundredth  part  of  an  inch. 
There  is  a  bell  situated  near  the  cam,  designed  as  an  alarm  ;  not, 
however,  to  be  used  like  the  ordinary  alarums  upon  English  and 
other  European  systems,  to  call  attention  when  a  message  is  to 
be  sent,  but  to  announce  to  the  operator  who  is  transmitting  a 
despatch  when  a  break  occurs.  The  use  of  this  alarm  might, 
however,  be  very  safely  dispensed  with.  A  steel  wire,  with  a 
small  ball  upon  one  end,  and  connected  by  the  other  with  the  de- 
tent, is  made  to  vibrate  with  every  movement  of  the  detent,  and 
strike  the  bell  with  considerable  force. 

In  passing  from  this  part  of  the  instrument,  we  cannot  forbear 
alluding  to  the  important  part  which  air  plays  as  a  motive  power 
in  this,  as  well  as  the  House  instrument.  Without  it  the  House 
instrument  would  hardly  be  practicable ;  with  it  this  instrument 
is  wonderfully  improved.  Air  acts  instantaneously,  is  never  at 
fault  (if  the  pumps  and  tubes  are  looked  after),  and  is  a  powerful . 
auxiliary  motive  power. 

The  key-board  is  similar  in  appearance  to  the  House,  and  in 
principle  is  identical  with  the  Hughes.  The  circuit-wheel  is 
fifteen  inches  in  length  by  three  in  diameter.  It  is  in  the  form 
of  a  cylinder,  and  made  of  brass.  Apertures  one  inch  in  length, 
running  across  the  cylinder  in  a  direct  line  with  the  keys  upon 
the  key-board,  but  having  at  the  lower  end  a  small  aperture  run- 
ning longitudinally  to  the  left,  corresponding  in  number  with  the 
twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  the  dot  and  dash,  receive 
the  projecting  arms  at  the  extremity  of  the  keys. 

At  the  back  part  of  the  keys,  and  in  a  line  with  them,  there  is 
an  iron  band  connecting  with  a  key,  or  circuit-closer,  in  such  a 
manner  that  by  moving  it  to  the  right  it  closes  the  circuit  in- 
stantly. 

The  projecting  arms  at  the  extremity  of  the  keys,  when  the 
keys  are  depressed,  are  forced  into  the  apertures  of  the  cylinder, 
and,  passing  in  a  direct  line  until  near  the  bottom  of  the  aperture, 
are  then  carried  in  an  oblique  direction  a  space  of  an  eighth  of 
an  inch,  in  doing  which  the  iron  band  is  moved  the  same  dis- 
tance, and  closes  the  circuit.  It  follows  from  this,  that  as  the 


148         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

apertures  are  situated  at  equal  distances  upon  the  circumference 
of  the  circuit-wheel,  and  as  the  circuit  is  closed  whenever  a 
key  drops  into  its  aperture  (no  key  can  drop  into  the  aperture  of 
another),  the  circuit  must  always  be  closed  in  that  part  of 
the  arc  of  the  type-wheel  corresponding  to  the  key  depressed. 
That  is  to  say,  supposing  the  circuit-wheel  and  type-wheel  to 
be  making  120  revolutions  each  per  minute,  and  that  they  be 
both  started  alike  from  the  dash,  it  follows,  if  you  close  the  cir- 
cuit at  M,  that  M  will  be  printed  from  the  type-wheel,  because 
that  letter  represents  just  one  half  a  revolution  of  the  type-wheel 
as  well  as  one  half  of  the  circuit-wheel.  The  circuit- wheel,  as 
soon  as  the  key  reaches  the  oblique  aperture  by  the  movement  of 
which  the  circuit  is  closed,  drops  the  key,  and  the  circuit  opens 
again. 

Six  letters  may  be  printed  at  every  revolution,  and  as  the  in- 
struments can  be  run  up  to  140  revolutions  per  minute,  we  have 
,  the  astonishing  rate  of  50,400  letters,  or  10,080  words,  per  hour, 
which  this  instrument  is  able  to  produce  ;  but  as  there  are  no 
words  in  the  English  language  so  peculiarly  constructed  as  to 
include  every  fourth  letter  from  A  to  Z,  it  follows  that  this  result 
is  not  practicable  from  this  single  fact,  as  well  as  from  the  fact 
that  there  are  no  operators  of  sufficient  dexterity  to  be  able  to 
touch  the  keys  at  this  rate. 

It  remains  for  us  now  to  describe  the  electro-magnetic  governor 
of  Mr.  Phelps's  invention.  This  governor  is  made  of  iron,  three 
inches  in  depth  by  four  in  width,  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  cylinder. 
It  runs  upon  a  shaft  connecting  with  the  principal  wheel  in  the 
machine.  Through  the  centre  of  the  shaft  there  is  an  aperture, 
through  which  passes  a  spring,  connected  at  one  end  with  a 
lever  and  at  the  other  with  a  balance,  which  a  rapid  revolution 
of  the  cylinder  causes  to  fly  out,  and  at  the  same  time  raise  the 
lever  at  the  other  end.  Upon  the  end  of  this  lever  there  is  a 
small  iron  wire,  which  is  raised  by  the  lever  whenever  the  bal- 
ance flies  out,  by  the  rapid  revolution  of  the  instrument,  until  it 
strikes  a  brass  pin  at  the  top,  by  which  it  closes  a  local  circuit, 
and  thereby  brings  an  armature,  containing  a  leather  friction  at- 
tached to  a  keeper  of  an  electro-magnet,  into  connection  with  the 


THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  149 

sides  of  the  cylinder  of  the  governor.  This  checks  the  speed  of 
the  governor,  and  causes  the  needle  to  drop,  by  which  the  local 
circuit  is  opened  and  the  friction  removed.  The  governor  then 
regains  its  speed,  causing  the  balance  again  to  fly  out,  the  lever 
to  rise,  and  again  brings  the  wire  into  contact  with  the  brass  pin, 
again  throwing  on  the  friction  of  the  electro-magnet,  which  again 
checks  the  speed,  and  so  on. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  are  here  two  forces  in  direct 
opposition.  The  natural  speed  of  the  instrument  causes  the  bal- 
ance to  fly  out,  and  raise  the  lever,  by  which  a  local  circuit  is 
closed,  wliich  brings  into  action  a  friction  which  checks  the  speed 
of  the  governor.  By  raising  the  brass  pin  over  the  wire,  the 
instruments  can  be  increased  in  speed  to  any  desired  amount ; 
and  by  lowering  it,  they  can  be  decreased.  Three  cups  of  Dan- 
iell's  (sulphate  of  copper)  battery  furnishes  the  necessary  current 
for  the  local  battery. 

The  ordinary  rate  of  speed  of  this  instrument  is  about  2,000 
words  per  hour,  or  about  twice  as  rapid  as  the  Morse,  and  about 
equal  to  the  House  -t  for  although  the  Morse  instruments  can  be 
worked  as  high  as  1,500  words  per  hour,  and  the  House  as  high 
as  2,800,  still  neither  of  them  is  ordinarily  operated  at  this  rate. 
The  usual  rate  upon  the  Morse  lines  does  not  exceed  1,000 
words,  and  that  of  the  House  1,800  words  per  hour.  Mr.  Walker, 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Electric  Telegraph  Company  between 
London  and  Dover,  states  the  rate  of  transmission  upon  the  lines 
under  his  charge,  which  employ  the  needle  system,  to  be  about 
15  words  per  minute,  or  900  words  per  hour.  This  is,  doubt- 
less, setting  the  rate  pretty  high,  and  we  may  therefore  conclude 
that,  from  all  the  testimony  we  can  gather  upon  the  subject, 
the  needle  system  is  about  one  half  as  fast  as  the  Morse, 
and  one  fourth  as  fast  as  our  American  printing  system.  The 
combination  instrument  as  a  whole  is,  without  question,  far  in 
advance  of  any  and  all  other  instruments  ever  devised,  in  this 
country  or  Europe.  It  is  simple  in  construction,  and  therefore 
not  expensive  in  manufacture.  Only  one  wave  is  necessary  to 
produce  a  letter,  while  it  requires,  upon  an  average,  three  and  a 
half  upon  the  Morse,  seven  upon  the  House,  three  and  a  quar- 
13* 


150  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

ter  upon  the  needle  telegraph  of  Cooke  and  Wheatstone,  seven 
upon  Froment's  dial  system,  and  the  same  upon  Siemens's. 

The  breaking  and  closing  of  the  circuit  is  done  by  machinery, 
and  is  therefore  much  more  accurately  and  firmly  done  than  if 
performed  by  hand,  as  is  the  case  upon  the  Morse,  Bain,  and 
needle  systems ;  for,  although  some  operators  touch  the  key  firmly 
and  steadily,  making  a  good  contact  between  the  lever  and  anvil, 
there  are  many  who,  from  nervousness  or  carelessness,  close  the 
circuit  in  an  imperfect  manner,  causing,  particularly  in  wet 
weather,  when  there  is  considerable  escape,  a  shaky,  unreliable 
movement  to  the  armature  of  the  electro-magnet.  From  this 
cause  it  often  happens,  upon  all  Morse  lines,  that  messages  can 
be  received  from  some  operators  when  it  would  be  impossible  to 
receive  from  others,  over  the  same  wires.  This  goes  to  show 
how  essential  it  is  -that  the  contact  should  be  made  properly,  — 
that  is,  firmly,  and  of  sufficiently  long  continuance.  At  the  ex- 
act instant  that  the  contact  is  made,  the  full  force  of  the  current 
does  not  flow,  but  increases  in  volume  for  a  perceptible  time,  as 
has  been  observed  from  minute  experiments.  Now  the  contact 
is  made  upon  this  instrument,  not  only  by  machinery,  but 
by  a  direct  movement,  and  the  contact  continues  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  for  the  current  to  develop  its  full  force.  The 
contact  is  an  exact  one  also,  —  the  placing  together  of  two  flat 
surfaces  of  brass.  In  this  particular  it  is  superior  to  the  arrange- 
ment upon  the  House  instrument  for  closing  the  circuit ;  for  upon 
that  a  spring  is  used,  made  of  steel,  divided  through  the  middle, 
one  end  of  which  presses  upon  the  surface  of  a  cog-wheel,  di- 
vided into  twenty-eight  parts,  and  which  revolves  sixty-two  times 
a  minute,  thus  opening  and  closing  the  circuit  1,750  times  per 
minute,  or  29  times  per  second ! 

To  print  2,000  words  per  hour  with  the  combination  instru- 
ment, it  is  only  necessary  to  break  and  close  the  circuit  166  times 
a  minute,  or  not  quite  three  times  per  second. 

Printing  systems  possess  great  advantages  over  the  needle,  the 
dial,  or  the  arbitrary  recording  instruments,  in  that  they  perform 
double  the  work,  and  thereby  reduce  the  chances  for  error  in  the 
same  proportion.  We  all  know  that  man  is  always  liable  to  error j 


THE   COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  151 

and  that  the  more  we  can  accomplish  by  exact  machinery,  the 
less  liable  are  we  to  be  annoyed  with  mistakes. 

Then,  again,  the  printed  slips  are  more  satisfactory  to  the 
patrons  of  the  telegraph,  because  they  are  more  easily  read  than 
ordinary  writing ;  and  this,  again,  is  a  matter  of  more  impor- 
tance than  it  would  at  first  seem,  because  the  rapidly  written  copy 
of  even  the  best  operator  is  often  far  from  legible,  and  requires  to 
be  studied,  and  sometimes  returned  to  the  office  to  be  deciphered. 

This  instrument,  then,  standing  at  the  head  of  all  which  have 
been  devised  for  transmitting  intelligence  by  the  wonderful  agency 
of  the  electric  fluid,  and  seemingly  fulfilling  all  the  requirements 
of  a  perfect  system,  deserves  a  brief  consideration,  at  least,  to 
determine  the  question  as  to  whom  belongs  the  credit  of  its  de- 
visement.  We  cannot,  properly  speaking,  call  it  an  invention 
separate  and  distinct  from  any  other,  and  its  very  name  suggests 
the  impropriety  of  doing  so.  It  is  simply  a  combination  instru- 
ment, and  it  remains  for  us  to  state  from  what  it  is  combined. 

We  have  seen  above,  that  it  is  composed  of  a  portion  of  the 
instrument  invented  by  Hughes,  a  portion  of  that  of  House,  and 
the  governor  of  Mr.  Phelps.  The  union  of  these  systems  is  un- 
questionably due  to  Mr.  Phelps ;  and  if  such  a  combination  were 
patentable,  he  would  undoubtedly  be  entitled  to  the  patent.  But 
the  leading  principle  upon  which  the  instrument  operates  is  that 
invented  by  Mr.  Hughes,  or,  I  should  say,  first  successfully  applied 
to  a  printing  instrument  by  him ;  namely,  the  synchronous  move- 
ments of  the  type-wheels,  and  the  application  of  the  one  wave, 
or  impulse,  of  the  current  for  signalizing  a  letter.  The  portion 
of  the  apparatus  borrowed  from  the  House  invention,  though  im- 
portant, is  secondary.  It  consists,  mainly,  in  the  application  of 
air  in  conveying  the  impulse  of  the  electric  current  for  the  pur- 
pose of  releasing  the  detent  at  the  proper  moment,  in  order  that 
the  cam  may  force  the  press  into  contact  with  the  type-wheel. 

It  would  be  proper,  it  strikes  us,  that  the  credit  of  this  incom- 
parable instrument  should  be  divided  between  Messrs.  Hughes, 
House,  and  Phelps,  as  inventors ;  but  there  is  also  much  credit 
due  to  the  American  Telegraph  Company,  for  the  liberality  with 
which  it  has  expended  its  money  in  the  large  number  of  experi- 


152         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

ments  which  it  has  been  necessary  to  make,  extending  over  a 
period  of  four  years,  in  order  to  bring  to  a  successful  termination 
the  valuable  but  imperfect  invention  of  Mr.  Hughes. 

A  patent  has  recently  been  awarded  to  Mr.  Phelps  for  the 
following :  — 

"  GEORGE  M.  PHELPS,  of  Troy,  N'.  Y.  {Assignor  to  the  American 
Telegraph  Company),  for  an  Improvement  in  Telegraphing 
Machines :  — 

11 1  claim,  first,  producing  from  a  magneto-electric  battery  the 
momentary  electric  currents  required  for  actuating  the  printing- 
mechanism  by  giving  momentary  motion  to  the  armature  or  other 
current-inducing  part  of  the  magneto-electric  battery,  by  means 
of  a  set  of  finger-keys,  which,  when  depressed,  are  controlled  in 
their  action  upon  the  current-inducing  part  of  the  magneto-electric 
battery  by  a  mechanical  contrivance  which  constantly  moves  in 
harmony  with  the  unintermittingly  revolving  type-wheel,  substan- 
tially as  described. 

"  I  also  claim  increasing  the  capability  of  the  instruments  for 
telegraphing,  by  so  increasing  the  speed  of  the  transmitting-device 
and  type-wheel,  in  relation  to  the  motion  of  the  parts  which  per- 
form the  printing,  that  two  or  more  types  shall  pass  the  platen 
while  the  printing-mechanism  is  acting  once,  as  described. 

"  I  also  claim  turning  the  cylindrical  platen  while  each  impres- 
sion is  being  made,  by  means  of  rings  of  teeth,  It  and  T,  upon 
the  type-wheel  and  platen,  as  and  for  the  purpose  set  forth. 

"And,  finally,  I  claim  making  a  revolving  wheel  or  shaft,  £7 or 
t,  turn  the  corrector,  M,  armature,  (7,  or  another  wheel  or  shaft,  a 
certain  fixed  distance,  with  the  same  speed  as  itself,  at  any  time 
and  any  desired  number  of  times,  by  the  use  of  a  ratchet-wheel, 
For  h,  catch,  JFor  f,  guide,  X  or  k,  and  detent,  7Tor  e,  all  ar- 
ranged together,  and,  with  the  said  driving  and  driven  wheel  or 
shaft,  for  conjoint  operation,  as  set  forth." 

A  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  combination  instrument  in  its  prac- 
tical operations  during  rainy  and  foggy  weather,  when  there  is 
always  considerable  escape,  from  defective  insulation,  is  found  in 


THE   COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  153 

an  apparatus  which  is  being  perfected  by  Mr.  "W.  T.  Eddy,  of 
New  York. 

This  apparatus  consists  of  an  induction  coil,  two  relay  magnets, 
and  a  local  and  primary  circuit.  The  induction  coil  (discovered 
by  Faraday)  is  applied  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  an  in- 
stantaneous but  momentary  impulse  upon  the  electro-magnets 
along  a  telegraphic  wire,  in  addition  to,  and  independent  of,  the 
main  current  upon  the  line. 

We  have  described  the  principles  of  the  induction  coils  on 
page  47,  and  we  shall  therefore  only  briefly  describe  the  con- 
struction of  the  one  in  question. 

The  induction  coils  used  by  Mr.  Eddy  contain  about  ten  miles 
of  silk-wound  copper  wire,  T^<j  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  for  the 
secondary  or  induced  current,  and  of  about  half  a  mile  of  insu- 
lated copper  wire  of  No.  20  gauge  for  the  primary  or  inducing 
current.  The  coils  are  fourteen  inches  in  length  by  three  in  di< 
ameter,  and  enclose  a  bundle  of  about  150  iron  rods  or  wires  in 
the  centre. 

The  manner  of  connecting  this  apparatus  in  the  circuit  is  as 
follows.  The  main  wire  which  extends  between  the  distant  sta- 
tions is  connected  with  the  two  poles  of  the  secondary  helix.  A 
relay  magnet  placed  in  the  same  circuit  operates  a  second  relay, 
by  means  of  a  local  battery,  and  this  second  relay  opens  and 
closes  the  primary  circuit,  the  current  of  which  induces  a  mo- 
mentary and  instantaneous  current  in  the  secondary  coil  at  the 
moment  of  breaking  or  closing  the  primary. 

The  primary  helix  is  made  in  sections,  so  that  a  part  or  the 
whole  of  the  wire  composing  it  may  be  in  the  circuit,  as  circum- 
stances may  require. 

The  utility  of  the  local  circuit  and  second  relay  may  not  at 
first  be  obvious.  The  object  is  to  have  the  first  relay  work  with 
a  very  delicate  adjustment,  which  would  not  be  practicable  if  it 
had  to  close  a  powerful  primary  circuit,  such  as  is  used  for  charg- 
ing the  secondary  coil.  The  primary  battery  is  composed  of  eight 
of  Grove's  cells. 

,    During  a  heavy  rain-storm,  recently,  two  of  these  instruments 
were  placed  in  the  circuit  of  the  line  extending  between  Boston 


154         ELECTRIC  TELEGBAPH  APPARATUS. 

and  New  York,  and  aided  very  materially  in  working  the  line 
through.  In  this  case,  one  of  the  coils  was  placed  in  the  circuit 
at  Worcester,  and  the  other  at  Waterbury.  Before  they  were 
put  in,  Boston  and  New  York  operators  could  not  get  each  other's 
breaks,  but  by  their  aid  they  were  enabled  to  work  with  facility. 

Should  these  coils  prove,  upon  further  trial,  to  accomplish  all 
that  is  expected  of  them,  the  science  of  electric  telegraphy  will 
have  received  a  very  great  help  through  the  skill  and  persever- 
ance of  Mr.  Eddy. 

Owing  to  the  momentary  action  of  the  induced  current,  it  was 
not  supposed  that  the  coils  could  be  used  in  connection  with  the 
Morse  apparatus  ;  but  recent  experiments  seem  to  indicate  that 
they  may,  with  advantage,  aid  that  system  also. 

Mr.  Milliken  worked  between  Boston  and  Portland  by  the  aid 
of  one  of  these  coils,  and  was  able  to  correspond  intelligently 
with  the  operator  at  Portland,  by  simply  breaking  and  closing 
the  primary  circuit,  without  disturbing  the  main  circuit.  The 
explanation  of  the  success  attained  in  this  experiment  is,  that  it 
requires  more  power  to  bring  the  armature  up  to  the  magnets 
than  to  hold  it  there ;  and  the  momentary  impulse  imparted  by 
the  induction  coil  being  sufficient  to  bring  the  armature  up,  the 
voltaic  current  is  able  to  perform  the  office  of  holding  it  there. 

With  the  aid  of  permanent  magnets,  it  is  probable,  therefore, 
that  the  Morse  apparatus  might  be  worked  over  a  long  circuit, 
without  the  aid  of  other  battery  power  than  that  furnished  by  the 
primary  current  and  the  induction  coils  ;  but  it  would  not  proba- 
bly result  economically  in  practice,  as  the  primary  battery  is  con- 
sumed very  rapidly. 

The  combination  instrument  has  now  been  in  use  about  a  year, 
and,  since  the  first  of  January  last,  has  done  nearly  all  the  pri- 
vate business  between  Boston  and  New  York.  An  ordinarily 
expert  operator  can  easily  transmit  2,000  words  an  hour  by  it, 
and  those  better  skilled  much  more.  Mr.  Barrett,  one  of  the 
Boston  operators,  has  sent  news  for  the  press  at  the  rate  of  2,800 
words  an  hour,  partially  abbreviated,  and  at  the  rate  of  2,500 
when  printed  in  full,  which  is  equal  to  the  best  speed  attained  by 
the  House  system. 


THE  COMBINATION  SYSTEM.  155 

The  operation  of  this  instrument  becomes  more  and  more  sat- 
isfactory every  day,  and  it  is  looked  upon  by  all  who  have  become 
familiar  with  its  performances  as  the  best  telegraphic  apparatus 
which  has  yet  been  produced.  Its  leading  characteristics  are 
rapidity  of  operation,  simplicity  in  construction,  and  great  accu- 
racy. It  might  very  justly  adopt  for  its  motto  that  used  by 
its  predecessor,  the  House  printing  instrument,  and  with  even 
greater  propriety,  namely,  Prompt,  accurate,  and  reliable. 


156 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

HORNE'S  ELECTRO-THERMAL  TELEGRAPH. 

THIS  system  applies  a  new  principle  in  electro-dynamics. 
The  electric  current,  instead  of  being  used  to  produce  magnetism, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  Morse,  House,  and  Hughes  inventions,  or 
to  decompose  salts,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  Bain,  is  employed  in 
this  instrument  to  produce  heat,  and,  by  burning  holes  in  the 
paper,  to  produce  a  set  of  arbitrary  signs  composed  of  dots  and 
dashes  similar  to  the  Morse  alphabet. 

The  instrument  (Fig.  70)  is  mainly  composed  of  simple  clock- 


rig.  70. 


work,  designed  to  carry  along  strips  of  paper  at  a  uniform  rate  of 
speed.  Above  the  clock-work  are  two  pillars,  supporting  an 
axis,  upon  which  is  the  adjustable  wire-holder,  the  lower  extrem- 
ity of  which  touches  the  strip  of  paper.  By  means  of  the  con- 


HORNE'S  ELECTRO-THERMAL   TELEGRAPH.  157 

nections  and  insulations  of  the  pillars,  axis,  and  wire-holder,  the 
platinum  wire,  which  passes  over  a  little  slip  of  porcelain  at 
the  end  of  the  wire-holder,  becomes  part  of  the  circuit,  with 
which  the  two  screw-cups  upon  the  right  of  the  instrument  are 
connected.  When  the  wire  needs  adjustment,  the  wire-holder 
can  be  turned  up  on  its  axis.  The  bed  supporting  the  strip  of 
paper  is  also  adjustable,  so  as  to  regulate  the  contact  between  the 
wire  and  the  paper. 

This  instrument  derives  its  practical  value  from  its  application 
of  the  law,  that  resistance  of  metals,  under  certain  conditions,  to 
the  passage  of  the  electric  current,  generates  heat.  If  you  take, 
for  example,  an  ordinary  Morse  "  relay  "  magnet,  composed  of  a 
large  number  of  convolutions  of  fine  silk-wound  copper  wire,  and 
pass  a  heavy  quantity  current  through  it,  you  will  find  the  helix 
to  grow  very  hot,  in  a  short  space  of  time.  Now  this  is  owing  to 
the  resistance  which  the  fine  wire  offers  to  the  passage  of  the 
current  generated  by  the  battery.  But  if  you  place  within  the 
circuit  so  formed  a  piece  of  platinum-wire  of  the  same  size  as 
the  copper,  it  will  become  red-hot  at  once.  The  reason  for  this 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  platinum  is  a  much  poorer  conduc- 
tor than  copper,  and  the  small  piece  inserted  between  the  copper 
wires,  offering  so  great  a  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  current, 
is  at  once  made  red-hot.  With  this  explanation,  the  reader  has 
only  to  conceive  the  platinum  wire,  bent,  so  as  to  present  a 
pointed  place  of  contact  with  the  strip  of  paper,  and  a  strong  local 
quantity  battery  thrown  upon  the  platinum  wire  at  intervals 
similar  to  those  employed  in  making  the  Morse  characters,  and  to 
remember  that,  when  the  battery  is  thrown  upon  the  wires,  the 
platinum  point  burns  a  hole,  and  when  it  is  thrown  off,  the  point 
instantly  cools,  and  he  has  the  whole  idea  of  the  principle  of  this 
invention.  It  is  proper  to  remark  here,  however,  that  as  only  a 
strong  quantity  battery  can  produce  these  results,  and  that  quan- 
tity batteries  cannot  produce  such  effects  at  the  termini  of  a  long 
telegraph  line,  it  becomes  necessary  to  use  a  local  circuit,  a  relay 
magnet,  and  a  local  quantity  battery ;  and  here  is  where  the 
invention  runs  against  an  insurmountable  difficulty,  for  the  relay 
magnet,  local  battery,  and  local  circuit  are  particularly  claimed 
14 


158         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

in  Morse's  patent  as  his  invention.  This  instrument  cannot 
therefore  work  without  the  permission  of  the  owners  of  the  Morse 
patent.  It  has  no  points  of  superiority  over  the  Morse,  and  as  it 
cannot  be  used  as  a  substitute,  owing  to  the  above  disability,  the 
result  has  been  that  it  has  never  been  put  into  practical  operation 
at  all. 

An  instrument  which  might,  perhaps,  be  construed  into  some- 
what of  a  resemblance  to  the  above,  was  constructed  by  Messrs. 
Farmer  and  Batchelder  of  this  city.  They  used,  however,  a 
large  cylinder,  upon  which  were  placed  sheets  of  variously  tinted 
tissue-paper.  A  platina  point  connected  by  an  armature  with  the 
keeper  of  an  electro-magnet  was  brought  in  contact  with  the 
tissue-paper  by  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  circuit.  A  spirit- 
lamp,  situated  under  the  platina  point,  kept  it  at  a  red  heat,  and 
when  it  touched  the  tissue-paper  it  discolored  it,  causing  a  dis- 
tinct mark.  The  instrument  was  carried  by  clock-work.  The 
system  is  practicable,  and  could  be  used  upon  a  line  to  advantage ; 
but  it  will  be  obvious  that  it  presents  the  same  difficulty  as  the 
Home  instrument,  namely,  infringement  upon  Mr.  Morse's  patent 

In  1848,  Messrs.  Zooke  and  Barnes,  of  Mississippi,  brought 
out  a  new  telegraph  instrument,  which  they  called  the  Columbian 
Instrument.  It  recorded  similar  to  the  Morse,  but  used,  instead 
of  the  simple  electro-magnet,  a  combination  of  the  natural  and 
electro-magnet,  such  as  Mr.  Hughes  uses  upon  his  new  printing 
instrument.  They  formed  a  new  combination  of  characters  for 
an  alphabet,  but  differing  in  principle  not  a  particle  from  the 
Morse.  They  used  a  local  circuit,  a  key,  and,  in  fact,  nearly 
everything  else,  like  it. 

Mr.  Henry  O'Reilly,  who  at  this  time  was  having  some  seri- 
ous difficulties  with  the  Morse  patentees,  took  up  this  instrument 
and  introduced  it  upon  the  extensive  range  of  lines  he  was  then 
constructing  throughout  the  Southwestern  States ;  it  was,  however, 
proceeded  against  by  the  owners  of  the  Morse  patent  as  an  in- 
fringement, and  an  injunction  was  granted  by  the  United  States 
District  Court  for  the  District  of  Kentucky,  in  1849. 

Notwithstanding  the  infringement  was  most  palpable  to  every 
one,  there  were  not  wanting  plenty  of  "  experts  "  to  testify  that 


HORNE'S  ELECTRO-THERMAL  TELEGRAPH.  159 

the  instrument  was  entirely  dissimilar  in  principle  and  practice, 

—  thus  showing  the  value  of  these  professional  experts,  whose 
services  can  be  bought  over  to  either  side  for  a  small  compensa- 
tion.    Public  safety  lies  in  the  scientific  knowledge  and  ability 
of  our  judges,  and  it  unfortunately  often  happens  that  they  pos- 
sess little  science,  however  much  general  knowledge  they  may 
have. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Henry  J.  Rogers,  of  Baltimore,  devised  a  modi- 
fication of  Bain's  electro-chemical  telegraph  ;  using,  instead  of 
the  iron  stylus  and  the  moistened  paper,  a  pen  containing  a  liquid 
solution  of  salts,  which  left,  through  the  action  of  the  electric 
current,  a  colored  mark  upon  a  smooth  brass  disc. 

"We  saw  this  telegraph  in  operation  in  Philadelphia,  in  1851, 
and  were  informed  by  the  operator  that  it  was  liked  very  much. 
However,  it  did  not  strike  us  as  being  any  improvement  upon  the 
Bain  system,  but,  upon  the  contrary,  as  far  inferior  to  it.  The 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Washington  Bain  line  never  did 
operate  their  line  upon  the  Bain  principle  strictly ;  but  used  the 
local  circuit,  which,  as  we  have  said,  is  claimed  as  Morse's  inven- 
tion, although  there  are  few  well  posted  in  the  history  of  the 
invention  who  think  him  entitled  to  it. 

The  use  of  this  circuit  operated  upon  the  company  disastrously 
in  their  suit  with  Morse  in  1852,  and  was,  doubtless,  the  primary 
cause  of  the  disuse  of  the  Bain  system  in  America ;  although, 
as  we  stated  in  our  chapter  upon  the  Bain  system,  it  is  the  opin- 
ion of  some  of  the  best  electricians  and  experts  in  this  country, 

—  among  others,  Dr.  William  F.  Channing,  —  that  the  cause  of 
Judge  Kane's  decision  against  the  Bain  line,  in  1852,  was  owing 
to  an  understanding  previously  arrived  at  between  the  managers 
of  the  Morse  and  Bain  companies  to  that  effect,  they  having 
agreed  to  consolidate  their  lines  and  join  their  interests,  which 
would  be  better  subserved  by  keeping  the  Morse  patent  intact. 


160 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  DIAL  TELEGRAPHS. 

THE  Dial  Telegraphs  (Fig.  71)  are  those  in  which  a  needle 
traverses  a  dial,  upon  the  margin  of  which  are  placed  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  by  a  succession  of  elementary  impulses,  and 

is  enabled  to  stop  during  a 
short  space  of  time  upon  any 
point,  and  to  show,  conse- 
quently, any  of  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet,  or  any  signs, 
which  might  be  placed  there. 
Sometimes  it  is  the  dial  which 
is  movable.  The  only  advan- 
tage of  the  dial  telegraphs  is 
that  each  sign  is  shown  directly 
to  the  clerk,  and  that  its  per- 
ception is  the  result  of  a  single 
instant  of  attention;  the  trans- 
mitter of  the  message  has  only 
to  impart  one  simple  rotary 
motion,  more  or  less  prolonged, 
in  order  to  bring  the  indicat- 
ing-needle upon  the  sign  to 
be  shown  at  a  distance,  or 
the  movable  dial  to  the  place 
where  the  sign  is  to  be  found. 
In  the  dial  telegraphs  there 

is  always  an  electro-magnet,  A,  which,  acting  upon  an  armature, 
or,  as  it  is  called,  a  contact  of  soft  iron,  B,  produces  by  means  of  this 
piece  of  soft  iron  a  movement  in  a  system  of  wheels  more  or  less 
complicated,  —  a  movement  which  is  imparted  directly  by  the 
piece  in  question,  or  which  results  from  a  mechanism  foreign  to 


THE  DIAL  TELEGRAPHS.  161 

the  electro-magnet,  the  action  of  which  is  arrested  and  liberated 
according  to  the  position  of  the  piece.  The  inconvenience  of 
some  of  the  dial  telegraphs  is,  that,  in  general,  each  signal  in 
them  being  dependent  upon  those  which  go  before  it,  errors  are 
liable  to  accumulate ;  their  mechanism  is  also  more  or  less  com- 
plicated, which  renders  thejn  more  susceptible  of  derangement, 
and  consequently  very  difficult  to  regulate  and  maintain  regu- 
lated. 

Wheatstone,  who  was  the  inventor  of  the  first  dial  telegraph, 
has  constructed  a  great  many  kinds  in  the  endeavor  to  perfect 
them ;  and  there  have  been  a  multitude  devised  by  other  inven- 
tors in  England,  France,  and  Germany.  "We  shall  only  describe 
one  of  these  dial  instruments,  and  that  the  simplest  in  form,  rather 
to  illustrate  the  principle  than  the  best  mode  in  practice. 

The  instrument,  like  all  others  designed  for  telegraphing,  is 
composed  of  two  parts,  the  manipulator  and  the  receiver.  The 
needle  of  the  receiver  is  mounted  upon  a  wheel,  which  possesses 
twenty-seven  teeth,  corresponding  to  the  twenty-six  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  and  to  the  sign  -f~>  called  final,  which  serves  as  the 
starting-point.  A  pallet  connected  by  a  lever  in  connection  with 
the  keeper  of  an  electro-magnet,  is  made  to  advance  one  tooth 
in  the  index-wheel  for  every  break  and  close  in  the  circuit. 
Suppose  the  needle  to  rest  upon  ihejinal,  it  will  take  one  opening 
and  closing  of  the  circuit  to  bring  it  upon  the  letter  A;  by  repeat- 
ing the  breaking  and  closing  twice,  starting  from  the  final,  it  will 
be  brought  upon  the  letter  B ;  and  so  on  for  all  the  letters.  The 
manipulator  carries  a  dial  precisely  similar  to  the  preceding ;  only 
its  needle,  which  is  stronger,  is  moved  by  the  hand,  and  in  it* 
motion  draws  on  the  wheel  upon  which  it  is  mounted.  The  latter 
possesses  twenty-seven  teeth  ;  two  springs  are  placed  to  the  right 
and  left,  one  of  which  performs  the  office  of  the  catch  in  the 
ratchet-wheel,  by  preventing  the  wheel  from  turning  backwards, 
and  is  always  found  in  contact  with  it ;  the  other  touches  it  by  a 
projecting  terminal  only,  when  one  tooth  passes  before  it.  Two 
connecting-wires,  each  of  which  is  attached  to  one  of  the  extrem- 
ities of  the  wire  of  the  electro-magnet  of  the  receiver,  are  at- 
tached, the  former  to  the  positive  pole  of  the  battery,  the  latter 
14*  K 


162         ELECTEIC  TELEGEAPH  APPAEATUS. 

to  the  catch-spring,  whilst  the  other  spring  connects  with  the  neg- 
ative pole.  It  follows  from  this  arrangement,  that,  each  time 
a  tooth  passes  before  the  second  spring,  the  circuit  is  closed,  and 
that  it  is  interrupted  when  this  spring  is  situated  in  the  interval 
that  exists  between  two  teeth.  Thus,  when  the  needle  of  the  ma- 
nipulator is  made  to  pass  from  one  letter  to  the  following,  there  is 
produced  successively  a  closing  and  an  interruption  of  the  circuit, 
which  causes  also  the  needle  of  the  receiver  to  pass  precisely  in 
the  same  manner  from  one  letter  to  the  following.  Consequently, 
if  the  two  needles  are  in  accordance,  (and  it  is  for  this  purpose  that 
the  -|-  is  employed,  upon  which  the  needles  of  both  apparatus  must 
always  be  stopped  when  they  are  not  acting,)  they  will  pass  on 
together  to  all  the  letters,  indicating  them  simultaneously ;  and  in 
order  to  transmit  a  word,  we  have  merely  to  stop  the  needle  of  the 
manipulator  for  an  instant  at  each  of  the  letters  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. Each  station  must  have  a  battery,  a  manipulator,  and  a 
receiver;  the  operator  who  receives  the  despatch  keeps  his  battery 
and  manipulator  out  of  the  circuit ;  there  is  nothing  else  to  do  than 
to  follow  with  his  eyes  the  needle  of  the  receiver,  in  order  to  read 
what  it  indicates.  When  it  is  his  turn  to  transmit  a  despatch,  he 
takes  his  receiver  out  of  the  circuit  by  means  of  a  commutator, 
and  at  the  same  time  introduces  into  it  his  battery  and  his  trans- 
mitter ;  he  causes  the  alarum  of  the  station  to  which  he  addresses 
himself  to  ring,  his  correspondent  performs  a  reverse  operation, 
and  the  communication  is  established. 

The  apparatus  above  described,  excellent  for  demonstration,  is 
inferior  to  others  of  the  same  kind  in  respect  to  velocity  and  safety 
in  the  transmission  of  despatches ;  the  derangements  to  which  it  is 
liable  arise  from  the  circumstance  that  the  pallet  of  the  escape- 
ment of  the  receiver  is  sometimes  liable  to  allow  a  tooth,  instead 
of  a  half-tooth,  to  pass,  on  account  of  the  velocity  of  the  impulse, 
and  from  the  fact  that  the  hand  of  the  person  that  causes  the 
needle  of  the  transmitter  to  turn  has  nothing  to  guide,  and  es- 
pecially to  stop  it  exactly  where  it  ought  to  be  done  ;  the  least 
irregularity  it  may  suffer,  either  onward  or  backward,  may  pro- 
duce some  want  of  agreement  between  the  needles. 

Mr.  "VVheatstone  has  devised  many  methods  of  transforming 


THE  DIAL   TELEGRAPHS.  jg3 

the  alternate  motion  of  the  armature  into  an  intermittent  circular 
motion  of  the  dial.  The  direct  mode  above  described  requires 
too  strong  a  current  to  be  employed  when  the  distance  to  be 
traversed  by  the  despatch  is  considerable.  Thus,  in  the  improved 
apparatus  intended  for  long  lines,  Mr.  Wheatstone  has  connected 
the  signal  dial  with  a  clock  movement,  set  in  action  by  a  spring 
or  a  weight,  which,  when  there  is  no  preventing  cause,  communi- 
cates to  the  wheel  to  which  the  dial  is  fixed  a  rapid  rotation. 
But  mechanism  analogous  to  a  scape-wheel  and  pallets  does  not 
allow  of  the  wheel  advancing  more  than  the  distance  of  a  half- 
tooth  each  time  that  the  armature  is  attracted  by  the  electro- 
magnet, or  repelled  by  means  of  the  spring  to  which  it  is  con- 
nected when  the  magnetization  ceases. 

M.  Breguet  has  also  devised  an  improved  dial  telegraph,  in 
which  he  uses  the  clock  movement  to  carry  the  needle,  and  the 
electric  current  to  act  simply  as  an  interrupter.  That  which  par- 
ticularly distinguishes  this  machine  is  the  employment  of  an 
escapement  which  is  placed  in  dependence  upon  an  electro-mag- 
net, in  order  that  the  latter  may  enable  one  half-tooth  to  escape 
at  each  vibration.  The  escapement  acts  by  means  of  two  pallets 
mounted  upon  an  oscillatory  axis,  and  arranged  at  such  a  distance 
and  manner  that  the  tooth  of  the  wheel  cannot  pass  without  en- 
countering them. 

M.  Froment  has  also  designed  one  of  the  best  of  the  dial  sys- 
tems. His  improvements  are  particularly  in  the  transmitters, 
which  greatly  resemble  those  used  upon  the  House  instruments. 
He  uses  twenty-eight  keys,  arranged  upon  a  board  similar  to  the 
House  plan.  He  also  uses  a  straight,  steel  arbor,  upon  which 
there  are  placed  twenty-eight  pins,  arranged  in  regular  order  and 
at  equal  distances,  and  which  also  divide  its  circumference  into 
twenty-eight  equal  parts,  forming  the  complete  revolution  of  a 
helix.  This  arbor  is  situated  under  the  key-board,  the  keys  of 
which  are  provided  with  corresponding  pins,  which  pass  freely 
when  in  their  natural  position,  but,  when  the  keys  are  depressed, 
cause  the  arbor,  which  is  moved  by  clock-work,  to  stop.  At  the 
end  of  the  arbor  there  is  a  break-wheel,  by  which  the  circuit  is 
broken  and  closed  twenty-eight  times  for  each  revolution.  The 


164        ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

needle  of  the  receiver  moves  synchronously  with  the  arbor  of  the 
type-wheel,  through  the  action  of  the  circuit-breaker.  The  in- 
strument is  very  rapid,  the  last  wheel  of  the  movement  which 
carries  the  arbor  making  three  revolutions  per  second.  Four 
letters  can  be  made  at  each  revolution  upon  an  average.  This, 
like  all  other  dial  systems,  belongs  to  the  class  of  step-by-step 
electro-magnetic  telegraphs.  There  can  be  little  question  that 
the  leading  ideas  of  this  instrument  were  borrowed  from  the 
House,  which  is,  however,  vastly  superior  to  it,  from  the  fact  that 
it  actually  prints  in  plain  Roman  letters,  while  this  simply  has 
the  power  of  indicating  them.  House's  instrument  possesses  this 
indicating  power  also,  and  operators  in  conversing  with  each 
other  never  set  the  press  in  motion,  but  simply  read  from  the 
signal-wheel,  which  long  practice  enables  them  to  do  with  great 
facility.  In  fact,  there  have  been  made  numerous  signal-instru- 
ments upon  House's  plan,  for  small  offices  and  railway  stations, 
which  do  not  possess  the  printing  apparatus,  but  simply  depend 
for  their  usefulness  upon  the  signal.  These  instruments  are  of 
course  far  less  complicated  than  the  printing  instrument,  and 
much  less  costly,  being  made  for  about  $  150  apiece,  in  a  very 
substantial  manner. 

Breguet's  and  Froment's  systems  have  been  largely  used  in 
France,  but  are  being  superseded  by  Morse's  and  Bain's  instru- 
ments. 

We  cannot  dwell  upon  all  the  very  numerous  modifications 
which  the  dial  telegraph  has  undergone,  such  as  the  employment 
of  clock-movements  moving  synchronously  at  the  two  stations, 
and  which  are  stopped  by  the  aid  of  electro-magnetic  actions  at 
the  same  instant ;  or  such  as  the  substitution  of  pieces  of  magnet- 
ized steel  for  the  ordinary  armatures  of  soft  iron,  which  enables 
us  to  do  without  the  spring  employed  for  restoring  the  armature 
to  its  former  position.  In  fact,  in  this  case  the  electro-magnets 
act  upon  the  armature  already  magnetized  of  itself,  by  repulsion 
as  well  as  by  attraction,  according  to  the  direction  of  the  current ; 
the  sensibility  of  the  apparatus  is  thus  increased,  and  it  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  variable  intensity  of  the  current,  which  requires 
that  the  spring  be  regulated,  when  the  armatures  are  of  soft  iron, 
for  each  particular  intensity. 


THE  DIAL  TELEGKAPHS.  165 

M.  Glosener,  who  has  employed  magnetized  armatures  in  the 
construction  of  the  different  systems  of  telegraphs,  has  found  in 
it  the  advantage  that  is  likewise  presented,  as  we  shall  see,  by 
the  employment  of  magneto-electric  machines  instead  of  piles,  — 
that  of  destroying  more  rapidly,  by  the  production  of  induced 
currents,  the  magnetization  of  electro-magnets,  which  remains 
sometimes  for  some  instants  after  the  current  has  ceased  to  pass. 
But,  notwithstanding  these  various  advantages,  we  think  that,  if 
magnetized  armatures  have  not  been  generally  adopted,  it  is 
because  their  magnetization  must  alter  very  rapidly  under  the 
intermittent  action  of  electro-magnets. 

All  alphabetical  telegraphs,  both  those  which  we  have  been 
describing,  as  well  as  those  which  resemble  them,  may  be  char- 
acterized in  a  general  manner,  by  saying  that  they  have  neces- 
sarily a  manipulator,  which  is  moved  by  the  hand  of  the  person 
who  sends  the  despatch,  and  that,  consequently,  he  who  re- 
ceives the  despatch  is  obliged  to  remain  passive  until  his  cor- 
respondent gives  him  the  liberty  of  speaking  in  his  turn.  With 
regard  to  the  differences  that  exist  between  the  various  appara- 
tus, they  depend  only  upon  the  mechanism  that  serves  to  trans- 
form the  backward  and  forward  movement  into  a  rotary  motion, 
or  upon  the  arrangement  of  the  dial,  or  upon  the  form  of  the 
interrupter,  or,  finally,  upon  the  number  of  the  divisions,  both 
conducting  and  non-conducting,  of  which  it  is  composed.  It  is 
not  the  same  with  the  telegraph  devised  by  Mr.  Siemens,  which 
differs  totally  from  others  in  that  it  maintains  to  the  operator  who 
is  receiving  the  despatch,  even  while  he  is  receiving  and  writing 
it,  his  direct  and  immediate  action  over  the  operator  who  is  send- 
ing it  to  him,  and  this  without  having  recourse  to  a  second  wire, 
without  disturbing  the  agreement  of  the  dials  and  of  the  appara- 
tus, and  without  introducing  the  smallest  disturbance  into  the 
series  of  signs,  the  transmission  of  which  is  commenced. 

In  order  to  realize  this  advantage,  Mr.  Siemens  suppresses  the 
interrupter,  and  arranges  his  dial  apparatus  so  that  it  may  act  hi 
the  same  manner  when  sending  or  receiving  a  despatch. 

The  armature  of  the  electro-magnet  carries  a  lever  of  about 
four  inches  in  length,  which  performs  two  separate  actions.  By 


166         ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  APPARATUS. 

the  first,  at  each  double  vibration,  it  causes  one  tooth  of  the  wheel 
to  pass,  upon  the  axis  of  which  is  mounted  the  indicating-needle 
of  the  dial ;  and  thus  carries  this  needle  step  by  step  from  one 
letter  to  the  letter  that  follows. 

By  the  second,  it  breaks  the  circuit,  and  arrests  the  current 
from  which  it  has  itself  received  motion ;  but  it  does  not  arrest  it 
until  the  moment  when  it  is  itself  arrested  by  a  stop  in  its  onward 
excursion,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  armature,  attracted  by  the 
electro-magnet,  has  arrived  as  near  to  the  poles  as  it  ought  to  go ; 
then,  the  circuit  being  broken,  the  armature  ceases  to  be  attracted, 
and,  finding  itself  immediately  drawn  back  by  its  spring,  the  lever 
accomplishes  its  return.  Scarcely  does  it  touch  this  other  limit 
of  its  excursion,  than  it  completes  the  circuit  afresh,  re-establishes 
the  current,  and  instantly  is  found  to  be  carried  on  anew  by  the 
armature  in  order  to  accomplish  its  second  onward  movement, 
which  from  the  same  cause  is  followed  by  a  second  return. 
These  isochronous  vibrations  will  thus  be  accomplished  indefi- 
nitely, as  long  as  the  battery  furnishes  a  current  of  the  same 
intensity. 

In  order  that  communications  may  be  sent  by  this  instrument, 
it  is  necessary  that  the  needle  be  arrested  in  its  course  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time.  In  order  to  obtain  this  result,  Mr. 
Siemens  adjusts  circularly  around  his  dial  as  many  keys  as  it 
carries  signs,  and  upon  each  key  is  repeated,  in  a  very  conspicu- 
ous character,  the  sign  to  which  it  corresponds.  On  placing  the 
finger  upon  a  key,  a  small  vertical  end,  of  the  tenth  or  twentieth 
of  an  inch  in  diameter,  is  depressed,  which  then  stops  the  passage 
to  a  horizontal  lever,  parallel  with  the  needle,  and  mounted  upon 
its  axis.  It  is  exactly  as  if  the  needle  itself  were  stopped ;  but  the 
mechanism  is  concealed  beneath  the  dial,  in  order  not  to  confuse 
its  appearance,  and  not  to  fatigue  the  attention  of  the  operator.  It 
is  not  only  necessary  that  the  needle  be  stopped  opposite  to  the  sign 
that  it  should  indicate ;  it  is  also  important  that  the  motor  lever, 
connected  with  the  armature,  the  vibration  of  which  is  also 
arrested  by  the  same  obstacle,  shall  be  then  situated  toward  the 
middle  of  its  return ;  that  is  to  say,  towards  the  middle  of  the 
excursion  it  makes  under  the  influence  of  the  spring  which  brings 


THE  DIAL  TELEGRAPHS.  167 

it  back.  In  fact,  at  this  instant,  the  circuit  being  broken  for 
a  certain  time,  and  the  effects  of  the  current  having  ceased, 
there  is  less  chance  that  the  armature  should  contract  a  magnetic 
polarity  capable  of  disturbing  the  regular  action  of  the  apparatus. 
These  conditions  are  very  skilfully  fulfilled  by  Mr.  Siemens. 

The  person  sending  the  despatch  has  only  one  operation  to 
perform, — to  place  his  fingers  successively  upon  all  the  keys  cor- 
responding to  the  signs  he  wishes  to  make.  He  depresses  a  key, 
and  the  indicating-needle  of  his  apparatus,  carried  on  by  the 
regular  motion  by  which  it  is  actuated,  does  not  yet  suffer  any- 
thing ;  it  continues  its  course  till  the  moment  when  it  arrives  at 
the  sign  whose  key  is  depressed,  when  it  stops.  The  needle  of 
the  other  station,  moved  by  the  same  force,  and  subject  to  the 
same  synchronism,  cannot,  however,  stop  mathematically  at  the 
same  instant ;  for  the  lever  which  causes  it  to  move,  brought  back 
also  by  its  spring,  accomplishes  its  return  with  force,  since  it  does 
not  encounter,  like  its  homologue  of  the  first  station,  a  material 
obstacle  which  stops  it ;  it  therefore  accomplishes  its  return,  and 
takes  the  position  in  which,  as  far  as  it  is  concerned,  it  completes 
the  circuit  and  re-establishes  the  current.  What  it  then  does 
cannot  have  its  full  effect  at  the  very  instant,  since  its  homologue 
of  the  first  station  is  then  retained  in  a  point  where  it  breaks  the 
circuit.  Thus  the  operator,  sending  the  despatch  by  placing  his 
finger  upon  a  key  for  a  certain  fraction  of  a  second,  brings  about 
a  moment  of  similar  stopping  in  the  needle  of  the  second  station  ; 
but  we  must  particularly  remark,  that  the  two  needles  cannot  stop 
at  the  same  instant ;  the  second  does  not  stop  until  after  a  time 
which  is  equivalent  to  nearly  a  quarter  of  the  duration  of  a 
complete  vibration. 

The  operator  sending  the  despatch,  by  raising  his  finger  placed 
upon  the  first  key,  in  order  to  carry  it  on  to  the  second  and  make 
the  second  sign,  produces  the  following  results.  The  lever  of  his 
apparatus,  obeying  the  action  of  the  spring  which  draws  it,  is 
finally  free  to  accomplish  its  return,  and,  in  fact,  it  does  accom- 
plish it.  Then,  the  circuit  being  everywhere  closed,  the  current 
is  re-established ;  the  armatures  of  the  two  stations  are  simul- 
taneously attracted,  and  the  needles  recover  their  concordant  pro- 


168        ELECTRIC  TELEGKAPH  APPARATUS. 

gress,  until  the  moment  when  that  of  the  first  station  marks  the 
second  sign ;  the  needle  of  the  second  station  repeats  it  in  its 
turn,  and  the  same  phenomena  are  reproduced  until  the  end  of 
the  despatch.  If  everything  goes  on  well,  the  operator  of  the 
receiving  station  has  only  to  follow  the  movements  of  his  indicat- 
ing needle,  to  write  or  to  dictate  the  signs  that  it  points  out  to 
him.  If  he  has  a  doubt,  he  places  his  finger  upon  a  key ;  then 
the  needle  of  the  first  station  stops  at  that  signal,  and  the  person 
who  sends  the  despatch  is  thus  warned  that  his  correspondent 
wishes  to  speak ;  the  conversation  goes  on,  explanations  are  ex- 
changed, and  the  original  operation  soon  resumes  its  course. 

Mr.  Siemens,  when  desired,  joins  to  his  apparatus  a  printing- 
press,  which  operates  by  electro-magnetic  action ;  but  the  mech- 
anism of  the  apparatus  is  very  complicated,  and  has  not  been 
generally  used. 

Mr.  Siemens's  telegraph  requires,  in  order  to  its  acting  well,  a 
perfection  of  execution,  which  has  been  realized  by  Mr.  Halske, 
a  skilful  mechanician  of  Berlin,  but  which  in  general  can  only  be 
obtained  with  difficulty.  This  circumstance,  added  to  the  com- 
plication, and  consequently  to  the  high  cost,  of  the  apparatus,  has 
rendered  the  employment  of  it  not  very  general. 


PART   IV. 

SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

As  soon  as  the  fact  was  established  that  a  telegraph  could  be 
constructed  through  -the  aid  of  electricity,  the  attention  of  dis- 
coverers, both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  was  turned  to  the 
invention  of  some  perfect  insulating  substance  by  which  the 
wires  could  be  enveloped  and  buried  in  the  earth.  It  was  not 
deemed  desirable,  or  in  fact  practicable,  to  place  them  in  the 
open  air  upon  poles,  from  the  fear,  in  the  first  place,  that  they 
would  be  constantly  broken  by  accident,  or  from  malicious  mo- 
tives ;  and,  secondly,  it  was  supposed  necessary  to  insulate  them 
from  the  atmosphere,  which,  as  I  have  before  observed,  is  now 
known  to  be  a  valuable  auxiliary  in  the  passage  of  the  current. 
Tarred  yarn,  with  a  preparation  of  asphaltum,  was  among  the 
first  insulators  used  for  covering  the  wires.  The  lines  constructed 
at  government  expense,  between  Washington  and  Baltimore, 
were  covered  in  this  manner.  A  plough  was  also  invented  by 
Mr.  Cornell  —  one  of  Professor  Morse's  earliest  assistants  — 
for  the  purpose  of  opening  a  trench  in  the  earth  for  burying 
the  wires ;  but  on  account  of  the  expense  and  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  anything  like  good  insulation,  the  idea  of  laying  them 
under  ground  was  for  the  present,  at  least,  abandoned.  Still, 
if  it  was  decided  to  relinquish  the  idea  of  building  subterra- 
nean h'nes  in  this  country,  the  fact  was  apparent  to  all,  that 
perfect  insulation,  or  something  approaching  it,  was  impera- 
tively demanded  for  crossing  straits  or  wide  rivers,  where  masts 
15 


170  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

could  not  be  erected  upon  which  to  carry  the  wires  out  of  reach 
of  shipping. 

For  this  purpose  copper  wire,  wound  with  several  layers  of 
cotton  yarn  dipped  in  asphaltum  varnish,  and  the  whole  enclosed 
in  a  lead  tube,  was  used.  Mr.  Alexander  Jones  of  New  York 
designed  a  submarine  cable,  the  covering  of  which  was  to  be 
glass,  in  the  form  of  a  ball-and-socket  joint.  The  object  was  to 
get  something  which  would  unite  both  strength  and  flexibility, 
and  at  the  same  time  furnish  the  best  insulation.  We  do  not 
know  whether  Mr.  Jones  ever  had  any  of  this  cable  manu- 
factured, but  he  was  endeavoring,  in  the  winter  of  1847,  to 
get  some  of  the  telegraph  managers  to  engage  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  it.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  nothing  was  done  about 
it,  for  about  this  time  that  wonderful  substance,  gutta-percha,  was 
discovered,  which  was  destined  to  work  a  great  change  in  inter- 
national telegraphing. 

This  substance  was  applied  to  submarine  telegraphing  at  once, 
it  proving  to  be  one  of  the  best  non-conductors  known.  In  this 
country  wires  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  gutta-percha  were 
used  for  connections  about  the  offices,  and  were  also  run  through 
the  branches  of  trees,  where  it  was  difficult  to  prevent  the  wires 
from  touching  the  moist  leaves,  and  thereby  losing  much  of  the 
current  through  the  ground.  But  in  this  respect  the  experiment 
proved  a  decided  failure ;  for  the  gutta-percha,  being  a  compar- 
atively soft  substance,  was  soon  rubbed  off  against  the  twigs  of 
the  trees,  and  exposed  the  wires  to  much  worse  escape  than  they 
would  have  been  subject  to  without  it.  Owing  to  this  blunder,  — 
for  it  can  be  called  nothing  else,  —  one  line  between  this  city  and 
New  York  was  rendered  useless  for  nearly  two  months,  and  these 
pieces  of  covered  wire  had  to  be  taken  out,  and  the  line  taken  out 
of  the  trees,  before  it  could  be  worked. 

For  river-crossing,  the  gutta-percha  covered  wires  were  en- 
cased in  lead  tubes.  In  this  manner  the  Bain  line  crossed  the 
Connecticut  River  at  Middletown,  in  1849,  in  the  most  satisfac- 
tory manner. 

Gutta-percha,  when  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  undergoes  a 
change,  which  in  a  very  short  time  renders  it  of  no  use  as  an 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES.  171 

insulator ;  a  thousand  minute  cracks  being  perceptible  upon  the 
surface,  which  allow  the  moisture  to  penetrate  to  the  conducting- 
wire,  and  thus,  of  course,  to  form  a  connection  by  which  the  cur- 
rent is  carried  off  upon  the  surrounding  moist  substances.  From 
our  observation,  however,  we  are  of  the  opinion,  that,  where  gutta- 
percha  is  kept  constantly  covered  with  water,  or  entirely  seclud- 
ed from  the  atmosphere,  no  change  of  this  kind  can  take  place. 
We  have  examined  a  cable  recently,  which  has  been  manufactured 
seven  years,  and  has  been  laid  for  half  that  time,  which  is  as 
perfect  as  on  the  day  it  was  made.  Therefore  we  cannot  under- 
stand why  the  subterranean  telegraph  system  should  have  failed 
so  signally  in  Prussia,  where  it  was  originally  exclusively 
adopted,  and  has  since  been  abandoned.  De  la  Rive  says :  — 
"  The  subterranean  system,  employed  in  Prussia,  was  obliged 
to  be  abandoned  on  account  of  the  molecular  changes  which  the 
gutta-percha  then  employed  underwent  in  the  course  of  time,  and 
which,  by  permitting  moisture  to  infiltrate  into  it,  establish  a  com- 
munication between  the  interior  wire  and  the  ground,  and  thus 
cause  the  current  to  be  diverted  from  the  desired  direction.  In- 
genious methods  had  been  well  devised,  which  were  founded 
upon  Ohm's  law,  in  order  to  discover  the  points  of  rupture ;  but 
the  frequency  of  accident,  joined  to  the  difficulty  of  repairing 
them,  has  appeared  to  present  greater  inconveniences  than  those 
which  are  presented  by  the  aerial  lines,  the  establishment  of 
which  is,  besides,  much  more  economical.  However,  in  towns, 
where  the  length  of  the  circuits  is  never  very  considerable,  the 
employment  of  subterranean  conductors  presents  in  so  many 
respects  such  great  advantages,  that  they  have  been  generally 
adopted;  only,  in  some  cases,  simple  iron  wires,  deposited  in 
a  bed  of  bitumen,  and  covered  with  a  layer  of  the  same  sub- 
stance, have  been  preferred  to  copper  wires  covered  with  gutta- 
percha.  These  wires  are  so  large,  that  the  current  does  not 
suffer  any  resistance;  and  actual  experiments  have  proved 
that  their  insulation  is  sufficient.  However,  wires  covered 
with  gutta-percha,  carefully  prepared,  serve  the  same  pur- 
pose; and  they  are  employed  with  advantage  in  the  passage 
of  telegraphic  lines  through  tunnels,  against  the  sides  of  which 


172  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

they  are  fixed,  without  fear  of  any  defect  of  insulation  resulting 
from  it.  All  the  telegraph  lines  in  England  have  very  long  lines 
of  subterranean  gutta-percha  wire  laid,  in  some  cases  along  the 
railway,  and  in  others  along  turnpike-roads,  which  serve  well. 
The  wires  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company,  which  extend 
from  London  to  the  English  coast,  en  route  to  Ireland,  are  exclu- 
sively of  this  kind." 

De  la  Rive  is  excellent  authority  upon  all  matters  relating  to 
the  application  of  electricity,  but  we  must  differ  with  him  in  his 
conclusions  respecting  subterranean  lines,  and  the  value  of  gutta- 
percha  as  an  insulating  substance  when  exposed  to  the  atmos- 
phere. 

We  think  it  will  strike  any  one  as  singular  that  the  subterra- 
nean lines  should  have  failed  so  signally  in  Prussia,  owing  to 
molecular  changes  and  the  consequent  infiltration  of  moisture, 
when  the  same  system  has  been  adopted  by  many  of  the  tele- 
graph companies  in  England,  and  serves  well.  The  explanation 
of  this  seeming  contradiction  is,  we  presume,  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  wires  in  Prussia  were  not  laid  deep  enough  in  the 
earth  to  be  out  of  the  influence  of  the  atmosphere,  and  were 
consequently  open  to  the  same  objection  which  is  made  to  the 
use  of  gutta-percha  in  the  open  air.  The  English  lines,  upon 
the  contrary,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  are  laid  down  below  all  atmos- 
pheric influence.  It  is  not,  however,  so  easy  to  explain  how  he 
should  have  committed  the  error  of  stating  that  the  simple  gutta- 
percha  covering  should  have  proved  an  excellent  insulator  in 
running  lines  through  tunnels,  to  the  sides  of  which  they  are 
fixed,  without  other  insulators,  unless,  which  is  quite  likely,  he 
got  the  idea  from  some  publication  made  directly  after  the  trial 
was  made,  and  before  sufficient  time  had  elapsed  to  destroy  the 
insulating  properties  of  the  gutta-percha. 

We  have  in  this  country  but  one  subterranean  line,  and  that  is 
of  short  extent.  The  line  extends  from  Nantucket  to  Martha's 
Vineyard,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles,  and  is  divided  into 
eleven  miles  of  aerial,  thirteen  miles  of  submarine,  and  eleven 
miles  of  subterranean  wire.  Starting  from  Nantucket,  the  line 
runs  for  ten  miles  upon  posts,  and  then  for  three  miles  under  the 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES.  173 

sand  to  the  extremity  of  Smith's  Point,  where  it  is  attached  to 
an  iron  covered  cable,  and  runs  under  the  channel  to  the  island 
of  Tuckernuck,  across  Tuckernuck  under  ground,  and  thence 
under  water  to  the  island  of  Muskeget,  where  it  again  runs 
under  ground  to  the  other  side  of  the  island,  and  there  connects 
with  an  iron-protected  cable  eight  miles  in  length  crossing  the 
channel  between  Muskeget  and  Chappaquidic ;  it  crosses  Chap- 
paquidic,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  and  connects  with  a  cable  one 
mile  in  length  across  the  "  Swimming  Ground,"  to  a  point  one 
mile  distant  from  Edgartown,  and  thence  runs  in  upon  poles. 

This  line  has  been  built  three  years.  The  line  extending 
across  the  island  of  Chappaquidic,  three  miles  long,  is  laid  about 
two  feet  under  ground,  without  any  other  covering  than  a  thin 
coat  of  gutta-percha.  After  it  had  been  down  two  years,  we 
tested  it  with  a  delicate  instrument,  and  found  the  insulation  per- 
fect. The  subterranean  line,  three  miles  in  length,  upon  Smith's 
Point,  was  laid  out  originally  in  the  same  manner ;  but  owing  to 
the  sand  absorbing  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  becoming  very  hot, 
the  gutta-percha  covering  cracked  and  peeled  off  in  immense 
quantities,  entirely  destroying  the  insulation.  The  proprietor  of 
the  line  has  since  laid  down  gutta-percha  wire  enclosed  within  a 
small  lead  tube ;  we  presume,  however,  he  will  never  get  a  line 
to  stand  any  length  of  time  there,  unless  he  trenches  several  feet 
below  th'e  surface.  The  submarine  lines  have  all  stood  the  test 
with  the  exception  of  the  longest  one,  across  Muskeget  Channel. 
This  has  several  times  been  hooked  up  by  anchors,  and  commu- 
nication destroyed. 

The  cable  between  Nantucket  and  the  Vineyard  was  put  in 
operation  on  the  first  of  November,  1859,  and  remains  in  good 
working  condition  up  to  the  present  time.  The  Cape  Cod 
Telegraph  Company  will  shortly  relay  their  cable  between  the 
mainland  and  the  Vineyard,  and  thus  place  Nantucket  in  com- 
munication with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

While  upon  this  subject,  and  before  treating  upon  the  matter 
of  cables  at  length,  which  we  propose  doing,  we  will  say  a  few 
words  in  reference  to  other  cables  which  have  been  laid  in  the 
same  vicinity. 

15* 


174  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

The  Cape  Cod  Telegraph  Company  constructed  a  branch  be- 
tween Wood's  Hole  and  Edgartown,  upon  Martha's  Vineyard. 
A  cable  was  laid  between  Nobsque  and  West  Chop,  the  two 
nearest  points  respectively  upon  Cape  Cod  and  the  Vineyard. 
They  also  laid  one  between  Wood's  Hole  and  Naushon,  one  of 
the  Elizabethan  group  of  islands.  The  cable  between  Nobsque 
and  West  Chop  was  five  miles  in  length ;  the  one  between  Wood's 
Hole  and  Naushon  not  quite  a  mile. 

The  cable  used  was  about  three  times  as  large  as  the  Atlantic 
cable.  It  worked  for  a  few  weeks,  and  then  parted.  It  has  since 
been  twice  repaired,  with  the  same  result,  except  that  it  did  not 
stand  so  long  as  the  first  time.  The  tidal  current  between  these 
two  points  is  exceedingly  rapid.  One  of  the  principal  causes  of 
the  failure  in  the  cable,  and  the  immediate  one,  was  the  great 
quantity  of  sea-weed  constantly  drifting  in  the  Sound,  and  which, 
collecting  in  huge  masses  upon  the  cable,  forming  in  some  cases 
balls  of  the  size  of  a  hogshead,  offered  such  resistance  to  the  im- 
mense body  of  water  flowing  through  the  Sound,  that  the  cable 
was  snapped  asunder. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  any  cable  can  be  found  of  sufficient 
strength  to  stand  in  this  place  for  any  length  of  time  ;  but  if  there 
can,  it  must  be  such  an  one  as  was  devised  for  the  shore  ends  of 
the  Atlantic  cable.  The  cable  across  the  smaller  strait,  between 
Wood's  Hole  and  Naushon,  stood  the  test  until  the  beginning  of 
the  past  summer,  when,  without  parting,  it  had  become  injured  in 
some  manner  so  as  to  produce  so  much  escape  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  lay  another,  which  was  done  about  the  first  of  July, 
and  it  has  continued  to  work  well  since. 

The  English  were  the  first  to  lay  submarine  cables,  and  are 
now  far  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  world  in  their  manufacture, 
and  in  machinery  for  laying  them. 

On  January  10,  1849,  Mr.  Walker  submerged  an  experimental 
gutta-percha  covered  wire,  two  miles  in  length,  in  the  sea  off 
Folkestone  Harbor,  one  end  being  connected  with  a  wire  leading 
to  London,  the  other  with  a  telegraph  instrument  on  board  a 
steamship.  The  first  message  was  sent  to  London  at  12.49  P.M., 
and  communication  was  maintained  during  the  day,  until  the  wire 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES.  175 

was  collected  in.  On  August  28,  1850,  Mr.  Jacob  Brett  ran  out 
temporary  gutta-percha  covered  wire  from  Dover  to  Calais  ; 
signals  were  passed  from  coast  to  coast ;  but  the  wire,  being  un- 
protected, was  cut  by  the  rocks,  and  failed  next  morning.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1851,  he  submerged  the  first  permanent  cable  between 
Dover  and  Calais,  which  is  still  in  use.  It  was  once  broken  by 
anchors,  but  was  repaired. 

Since  this  period  several  submarine  lines  have  been  estab- 
lished :  three  are  already  in  existence  between  England  and  the 
Continent,  one  abutting  at  Calais,  another  at  Ostend,  and  the 
other  at  the  Hague. 

Besides  two  between  England  and  Ireland,  others  exist  in 
the  seas  which  wash  Denmark  and  Sweden,  as  well  as  in  the 
Bosphorus.  During  the  war  with  Russia,  a  line  about  four  hun- 
dred miles  in  length  was  established  in  the  Black  Sea,  between 
Varna  and  Balaklava. 

Two  others  have  also  been  undertaken,  the  extent  of  which 
will  be  immense. 

One  of  these  is  intended  to  place  Europe  in  communication 
with  Africa,  and  consequently,  by  way  of  Egypt,  with  the  East 
Indies,  and  probably  Australia.  Two  attempts  were  made  to 
accomplish  this,  which  failed.  In  September,  1855,  after  sub- 
merging sixty-five  miles,  on  entering  the  great  depths,  the  cable 
ran  out  with  such  violence,  that  it  was  necessary  to  cut  it  adrift 
and  sacrifice  it  to  save  the  ship  and  crew.  In  August,  1856,  after 
submerging  sixty  miles,  a  similar  run  took  place,  and  the  cable 
was  cut  adrift ;  eighteen  miles  of  the  shore-end  were  fished  up 
and  joined  to  the  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  still  on  board. 
This  was  safely  run  out ;  but  the  hundred  and  forty-four  miles 
were  just  exhausted  when  the  ship  was  still  in  deep  water,  and 
while  the  remnant  on  board  was  a  few  miles  short  in  quantity. 
The  cable  was  now  lashed  to  the  ship,  which  lay  by  in  hopes  to 
hold  her  own  till  another  length  of  cable,  for  which  a  telegraphic 
message  had  been  sent  from  the  ship,  should  arrive  from  London. 
Rough  weather  came,  and  on  the  fifth  day  the  cable  snapped. 

A  less  heavy  cable,  containing  four  conducting-wires,  was  de- 
posited safely  between  Bona,  in  Sardinia,  and  Cape  Telenda,  in 


176 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 


Algeria,  on  September  9,  1857  ;  but  as  it  did  not  quite  reach  an 
extra  piece  was  sent  out.  The  total  distance  is  125  miles  ;  more 
than  three  fourths  of  this  distance  presents  a  depth  of  from  1,600 
to  1,700  fathoms,  —  nearly  two  miles. 

Fig.  72  represents   several  kinds  of  submarine  cable.     The 
conduoting-wires   employed  are  generally  of  copper,  about  one 


Fig  72. 

sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  more  than  one  may  be  placed 
in  the  same  cable,  and  from  one  to  six  have  been  included,  ac- 
cording to  the  multiplicity  of  correspondences  to  be  transmitted. 
The  wire,  or  each  of  the  wires  if  there  are  more  than  one,  is 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 


177 


covered  with  a  coat  or  sheath  of  gutta-percha  one  twelfth  of  an 
inch  in  thickness,  and  placed  on  in  two  layers,  in  order  the  better 
to  insure  the  insulation  ;  for  if  one  of  the  layers  presented  a 
solution  of  continuity,  it  is  probable  that  it  would  not  encounter  a 
similar  defect  in  the  same  point  of  the  superposed  layer.  When 
there  are  several  wires,  they  are  arranged  one  after  another  as 


Fig.  73. 

the  elements  of  a  cylinder  and  tangent  in  respect  to  their  gutta- 
percha  envelope.  The  placing  one  of  them  in  the  centre  is 
avoided,  except  in  the  case  where  there  is  but  one,  when  the 
single  wire  is  necessarily  in  the  centre.  The  outer  circumference, 
as  well  as  the  wires  themselves,  are  furnished  with  tarred  yarn,  a 

L 


178  SUBTEERANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

material  which  is  not  a  bad  insulator,  and  which  yields  to  pres- 
sure without  altering  the  form  of  the  conducting-wires.  But 
that  which  is  essential  is  the  external  protecting  envelope,  which 
is  formed  of  a  variable  number  of  large  iron  wires,  coiled  heli- 
coidally,  so  that  the  cable,  notwithstanding  its  strength,  is  able 
to  bend  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
when  it  is  deposited  therein.  This  exterior  iron  envelope  in 
early  cables  was  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  zinc,  —  galvanized, 
as  it  is  called,  to  prevent  oxidation.  But  experience  has  shown 
that  this  erelong  disappears,  and  that  the  chemical  action  of  sea- 
water  upon  the  iron  protecting  wires  is  not  at  all  rapid.  Deposits 
of  sand  and  shells  are  not  without  their  use  in  assisting  to  pre- 
serve the  metal. 

Fig.  73  represents  a  variety  of  submarine  cables,  manufac- 
tured by  Messrs.  C.  T.  &  J.  N.  Chester  of  New  York. 


Fig.  74. 


Fig.  74  represents  a  variety  of  insulated  copper  wire  designed 
for  office  connections, — partly  covered  with  gutta-percha  and  partly 
with  a  double  coating  of  cotton,  and  twice  coated  with  hot  shellac 
varnish. 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  ]79 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE. 

THE  other  and  still  more  marvellous  undertaking,  alluded  to 
in  the  foregoing  chapter,  was  with  the  view  of  connecting  Ireland 
with  Newfoundland  and  New  York,  and  of  thus  permitting  Eu- 
rope to  communicate  telegraphically  with  America. 

Lieutenant  Maury,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  so  well  known 
for  his  hydrographical  researches,  caused  a  series  of  regular  sound- 
ings to  be  made,  with  the  view  of  determining  the  form  and  con- 
dition of  the  bed  of  the  ocean  between  the  coasts  of  British 
America  and  Ireland.  He  found  that,  between  Newfoundland 
and  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  the  bottom  consists  of  a  plateau, 
which,  as  he  says,  seems  to  have  been  placed  there  especially  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  the  wires  of  a  submarine  telegraph,  and 
of  keeping  them  out  of  harm's  way.  It  is  neither  too  deep  nor 
too  shallow  ;  yet  it  is  so  deep  that  the  wires  but  once  landed  will 
remain  forever  beyond  the  reach  of  vessels,  anchors,  icebergs, 
and  drifts  of  any  kind,  and  so  shallow  that  the  wires  may  be 
readily  lodged  upon  the  bottom. 

The  depth  of  this  plateau  is  quite  regular,  gradually  increas- 
ing from  the  shores  of  Newfoundland  to  the  depth  of  1,500  to 
2,000  fathoms  as  you  approach  the  other  side.  All  the  speci- 
mens of  the  bottom  brought  up  have  been  found  to  consist  •  of 
microscopic  shells,  without  the  admixture  of  a  single  particle  of 
gravel  or  sand.  Had  there  been  currents  at  those  depths,  these 
shells  would  have  been  thrown  about  and  abraded,  and  mixed 
more  or  less  with  the  debris  of  the  natural  bed  of  the  ocean,  such) 
as  ooze,  sand,  gravel,  and  other  matter.  Consequently,  a  tele- 
graphic cable  once  laid  there,  it  would  remain  as  completely  be- 
yond the  reach  of  accident  as  if  it  were  buried  in  air-tight  cases. 

Twelve  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  cable  were  coiled  on  board 
the  Agamemnon,  an  English  screw-ship  of  war,  and  a  like  length 


180  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

on  board  the  Niagara,  an  American  ship  of  war.  On  the  even- 
ing of  August  7,  1857,  the  Niagara  commenced  paying  out  the 
cable  from  Valentia,  on  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  and  at  3.45 
A.  M.,  on  August  11,  335  miles  had  been  successfully  laid,  when 
the  cable  parted,  while  in  2,000  fathoms,  on  account  of  the 
amount  of  retarding  strain  put  upon  it  in  order  to  check  its  too 
rapid  run,  which  had  become  considerably  in  excess  of  the  speed 
of  the  ship 

On  Saturday,  May  29,  1858,  the  Niagara  and  Agamemnon 
sailed  from  Queenstown,  on  an  experimental  trip,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  testing  the  cable.  On  the  31st  of  May,  in  lat.  47°  12' 
north,  long.  9°  32'  west,  the  depth  of  water  being  2,530  fathoms,  a 
series  of  deep-sea  experiments  was  commenced. 

The  Niagara  and  Agamemnon  were  connected  by  hawser, 
stern  to  stern,  distant  from  each  other  some  twelve  hundred  feet. 
The  cable  was  paid  out  and  spliced  on  board  the  Agamemnon, 
and  the  first  experiment  began.  Two  miles  of  cable  were  paid 
out,  when  the  wire  parted.  On  the  following  day  the  cable  was 
respliced,  and  three  miles  were  paid  out ;  but  in  the  attempt  to 
haul  in,  the  wire  again  parted.  On  Wednesday  the  cable  was 
again  spliced,  but  in  a  few  minutes  parted  on  board  the  Aga- 
memnon. After  various  experiments  in  splicing,  lowering,  and 
heaving  in,  the  squadron  returned  to  Plymouth. ' 

On  Thursday,  June  10,  the  fleet  again  started  from  Plymouth, 
with  the  Atlantic  Cable  on  board. 

After  having  been  three  days  at  sea,  the  expedition  was  over- 
taken by  a  fearful  gale,  which  continued  without  intermission  for 
nine  days.  On  the  seventh  day  of  this  heavy  weather,  the  ships, 
which  continued  to  keep  together,  had  to  part  company,  and  the 
Agamemnon  was  obliged  to  scud  before  the  wind  for  thirty-six 
hours.  The  coals  got  adrift  and  a  coil  of  the  cable  shifted,  so 
that  her  captain  for  some  time  entertained  serious  apprehensions 
for  her  safety,  and,  from  the  immense  strain,  her  water-ways 
were  forced  open,  and  one  of  her  ports  was  broken.  Two  of  the 
sailors  were  severely  injured,  and  one  of  the  marines  lost  his 
reason  from  fright.  Yet  such  was  the  consummate  skill,  good 
seamanship,  and  intrepidity  of  her  commander,  Captain  Priddle, 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  181 

that  he  was  enabled  to  bring  her  to  the  appointed  rendezvous, 
lat.  52°  2',  long.  33°  18'.  The  Niagara  rode  out  the  storm  gal- 
lantly, having  only  carried  away  her  jib-boom  and  one  wing  of 
her  figure-head,  —  the  American  eagle. 

All  the  vessels  having  arrived  at  their  central  point  of  junc- 
tion, the  first  splice  of  the  cable  was  made  on  the  26th.  After 
paying  out  two  and  a  half  miles  each,  owing  to  an  accident  on 
board  the  Niagara,  the  cable  parted.  The  ships  having  again 
met,  the  splice  was  made  good,  and  they  commenced  to  pay  out 
the  cable  a  second  time  ;  but  after  they  had  each  paid  out  forty 
miles,  the  current  was  broken,  and  no  communication  could  take 
place  between  the  ships.  Unfortunately,  in  this  instance  the 
breakage  must  have  occurred  at  the  bottom,  as  the  electricians, 
from  the  fine  calculations  which  their  sensitive  instruments  al- 
lowed them  to  make,  were  able  to  declare  such  to  have  been  the 
fact,  even  before  the  vessels  came  together  again. 

The  vessels  met  for  the  third  time  on  the  28th,  and  started 
afresh.  Having  paid  out  over  300  miles,  the  most  sanguine  an- 
ticipations of  success  were  entertained  upon  both  vessels,  when 
the  fatal  announcement  was  made  upon  the  29th,  at  9  P.  M.,  that 
the  electric  current  had  ceased  to  flow.  Both  vessels  returned 
to  Queenstown,  the  Niagara  arriving  July  5th,  the  Agamemnon 
July  12th. 

Saturday,  July  17th,  the  fleet  was  again  under  weigh,  bound 
to  the  mid-ocean  rendezvous.  The  fleet  consisted  of  the  Aga- 
memnon, Valorous,  and  Gorgon,  British  ships  of  war,  and  of  the 
United  States  steamship  Niagara. 

The  several  vessels  met  in  mid-ocean  on  Wednesday,  the  28th, 
made  the  splice  at  1  P.  M.  on  Thursday,  the  29th,  and  then 
separated,  the  Agamemnon  and  Valorous  bound  to  Valentia, 
Ireland,  and  the  Niagara  and  Gorgon  for  Trinity  Bay,  New- 
foundland. 

The  machinery  for  paying  out  the  cable  worked  in  the  most 
satisfactory  manner,  and  was  not  stopped  for  a  single  moment 
from  the  time  the  splice  was  made  until  the  arrival  of  the  Niag- 
ara at  Trinity  Bay,  and  the  Agamemnon  at  Valentia,  August  6th. 

On  the  morning  of  August  7th,  the  whole  country  was  electri- 
16 


182  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

fied  by  the  announcement  from  Mr.  Cyrus  W.  Field,  —  to  whom 
the  success  of  the  enterprise  is  mainly  due,  —  that  the  cable  was 
successfully  laid,  and  the  electrical  signals  through  the  cable  were 
perfect. 

Although  the  cable  was  successfully  landed  upon  the  6th  of 
August,  the  first  public  despatch  —  that  of  the  Queen  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  —  was  not  received  until  the  17th. 
The  cable  worked  until  the  1st  of  September,  when,  owing  to 
abrasion  upon  the  rocks  in  the  ocean,  or  through  some  other 
injury  not  yet  determined,  there  occurred  so  strong  an  "  earth 
current "  as  to  prevent  the  obtaining  of  intelligible  signals. 

The  people  all  over  the  country  appear  to  have  fully  estimated 
the  importance  of  the  'great  telegraphic  undertaking,  which 
seemed  successfully  accomplished  upon  the  6th  of  August,  1858. 
Everywhere,  in  an  impromptu  manner,  they  gave  vent  to  their 
joy  by  the  discharge  of  artillery,  illuminations,  display  of  flags, 
&c. ;  and  even  in  inland  places,  distant  from  the  sea-shore,  the  town 
bells  rung  out,  in  melodious  tones,  the  announcement  of  the  union, 
by  the  strongest  ties,  of  the  Old  and  the  New  World. 

The  following  poem  upon  the  Atlantic  Cable,  written  by 
E.  J.  O'Reilly,  Esq.,  appeared  in  the  journals  of  the  day. 

Six  thousand  years  have  passed  o'er  earth, 

While  Science,  like  a  stripling,  bore 
The  trophies  of  its  timid  birth, 

In  various  forms,  from  shore  to  shore  ; 
But  now  her  latest,  mightiest  child, 

Which  Franklin  viewed  and  Morse  caressed, 
With  glory  ripe  and  undefiled, 

Is  laid  within  the  ocean's  breast ! 

The  mighty  lightning  herald  sleeps, 

Till  human  touch  awakes  its  fires, 
To  send  beyond  the  morning  reach 

New  tidings  ere  a  pulse  expires  ! 
'Tis  laid  !    Old  Ocean  feels  a  thrill 

Throughout  his  time-sealed  bosom  now, 
And  yields  to  man's  victorious  will, 

The  crown  long  placed  on  Neptune's  brow. 


THE   ATLANTIC   CABLE.  183 

Calm  as  the  deep  in  summer's  reign 

And  wild,  as  in  its  wintry  wrath, 
Shall  be,  with  varied  joy  or  pain, 

Each  message  through  its  ocean  path ! 
Within  its  grave,  beneath  the  storm, 

It  lives,  a  breathing  thing  of  life, 
As  they  shall  live  who  gave  it  form, 

In  fame,  when  called  from  mortal  strife  ! 

Soon,  like  Orion's  belt  of  fire, 

Its  broad  electric  arm  shall  hold, 
With  all  a  monarch's  strong  desire, 

The  world  and  all  its  varied  fold ! 
And  from  its  tongue  through  every  sphere, 

Till  Time  and  Earth  together  cease, 
Mankind  the  glorious  tale  shall  hear 

Of  commerce,  brotherhood,  and  peace  ! 

In  regard  to  the  passage  of  the  electrical  current  through  the 
wire  when  submerged  in  the  ocean,  which  has  been  a  contro- 
verted question,  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company  instituted  ex- 
periments before  the  manufacture  of  the  cable,  which  are  said 
to  have  established  the  following  principles  and  facts :  — 

That  gutta-percha  covered  submarine  wires  do  not  transmit  as 
simple  insulated  conductors,  but  that  they  have  to  be  charged  as 
Ley  den  jars  before  they  can  transmit  at  all ;  — 

That  consequently  such  wires  transmit  with  a  velocity  that  is 
in  no  way  accordant  with  the  movement  of  the  electrical  current 
in  an  unembarrassed  way  along  the  simple  conductors ;  — 

That  magneto-electric  currents  travel  more  quickly  along  such 
wires  than  simple  voltaic  currents ;  — 

That  magneto-electric  currents  travel  more  quickly  when  in 
high  energy  than  when  in  low,  although  voltaic  currents  of  large 
intensity  do  not  travel  more  quickly  than  voltaic  currents  of  small 
intensity ;  — 

That  the  velocity  of  the  transmission  of  signals  along  insu- 
lated submerged  wires  can  be  enormously  increased,  —  from  the 
rate,  indeed,  of  one  in  two  seconds,  to  the  rate  of  eight  in  a  single 
second,  —  by  making  each  alternate  signal  with  a  current  of  dif- 
ferent quality,  positive  following  negative,  and  negative  following 
positive ;  — 


184  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

That  the  diminution  of  the  velocity  of  the  transmission  of  a 
magneto-electric  current  in  induction  embarrassed  coated  wires, 
is  not  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  squares  of  the  distance  trav- 
ersed, but  much  more  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  simple  arithmetical 
progression ;  — 

That  several  distinct  waves  of  electricity  may  be  travelling 
along  different  parts  of  a  long  wire  simultaneously,  and  within 
certain  limits,  without  interference ;  — 

That  large  coated  wires  used  beneath  the  water  or  earth  are 
worse  conductors,  so  far  as  velocity  of  transmission  is  concerned, 
than  small  ones,  and  therefore  are  not  so  well  suited  as  small 
ones  for  the  purpose  of  submarine  transmission  of  telegraphic 
signals ;  —  and 

That  by  the  use  of  comparatively  small  coated  wires,  and  of 
electro-magnetic  induction-coils  for  the  exciting  agents,  tele- 
graphic signals  can  be  transmitted  through  two  thousand  miles 
with  a  speed  amply  sufficient  for  all  commercial  and  economical 
purposes. 

The  cost  of  the  cable  laid  between  Ireland  and  Newfoundland 
is  given  below :  — 

Price  deep-sea  wire  per  mile, $  200.00 

Price  spun-yarn  and  iron  wire,  per  mile,        .         .         .    265.00 
Price  outside  tar,  per  mile,       ..... 

Total  per  mile,  .        .         .         .         .          $  485.00 

Price  as  above  for  2,500  miles,         .         .         .     $1,212,500.00 

Price  10  miles  deep-sea  cable  at  $  1,450  per  mile,     .         14,500.00 

For  25  miles  shore-end,  at  $  1,450  per  mile,     .         .    36,250.00 

Total  cost,          .        .  $1,263,250.00 

The  United  States  steam-frigate  Niagara,  which  was  em- 
ployed in  laying  the  cable,  is  the  largest  ship  of  war  in  the  world. 
She  is  345  feet  long,  with  55  feet  breadth  of  beam,  and  31  feet 
6  inches  depth  of  hold,  and  measures  5,800  tons. 

The  British  steamship  Agamemnon,  associated  with  the  Niag- 
ara, measures  only  3,102  tons.  She  is  230  feet  between  perpen- 
diculars, with  55J-  feet  breadth  of  beam,  and  24£  feet  depth  of 
hold. 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  185 

As  there  has  been  considerable  scepticism  manifested  in  regard 
to  the  actual  transmission  of  communications  through  the  Atlan- 
tic Cable,  we  have  thought  it  advisable  to  present  the  following 
incontestable  proofs  of  the  fact.  They  consist  of  an  abstract  of 
the  diaries  kept  at  Newfoundland  and  Valentia,  in  which  are  re- 
corded all  the  messages  and  conversations  which  passed  through 
the  cable  during  the  period  of  its  operation. 

In  these  messages  we  have  a  complete  history  of  the  cable,  — 
a  history  of  which  it  is  itself  the  narrator,  —  from  the  day  in 
which  it  began  to  speak  intelligibly,  up  to  that  on  which  it  be- 
came silent. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many,  well  qualified  to  judge,  that  the  fail- 
ure of  the  cable  was  owing  to  the  bungling  and  mismanagement 
of  both  the  engineers  and  electricians  of  the  company  who  had 
charge  of  it ;  for  it  was  owing  to  their  negligence,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  defects  were  produced  in  the  insulation. 

The  first  complete  message  in  form  received  at  Valentia  from 
Newfoundland,  through  the  Atlantic  Cable,  was  on  August  12,  at 
5.35  P.  M.,  as  follows :  — 

"  Laws,  Whitehouse  received  five  minutes  signal.  Coil  signals 
too  weak  work  relay.  Try  drive  slow  and  regular.  I  have  put 
intermediate  pulley.  Reply  by  coils." 

August  13,  at  12.38  A.  M.,  Newfoundland  asks  Valentia  to 
"Send  word  Atlantic."  Valentia  responds,  "Atlantic."  This 
was  the  first  word  read  in  Newfoundland  which  came  through 
the  cable.  During  the  day  some  additional  intelligible  signals 
were  received. 

August  14,  at  1.53  A.  M.,  Valentia  sends  to  Newfoundland, 
"Send  faster."  These  were  the  first  words  recorded  in  New- 
foundland, and  the  manner  in  which  the  record  was  made  is  seen 
by  Newfoundland's  reply  to  Valentia,  sent  2.55  A.  M.  "  Under- 
stand. Send  faster.  Now  try  message.  We  get  your  signals 
on  delicate  detector  by  tapping  and  marking  the  paper  with  pen- 
cil, for  the  time  the  needle  is  held  over  on  either  side." 

At  10.20  P.M.,  after  much  difficulty  in  transmitting  intelligi- 
ble signals,  Valentia  received  the  following  from  Newfoundland. 
"  Saward,  —  E.  M.  Archibald,  New  York,  telegraphs,  *  Instructed 
16* 


186  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

by  Honorable  Directors  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  and  Direc- 
tors New  York,  Newfoundland,  and  London  Telegraph  Company, 
to  state  that  unexplained  delay  injures  interests  both  companiesl 
I  replied,  —  *  Cause  not  passing  messages,  —  that  instruments  re- 
quire great  care  and  adjustment.  Doing  fast  possible.  You 
should  not  look  on  cable  as  on  ordinary  short  line,  as  we  en- 
counter many  little  difficulties,  but  think  all  soon  overcome/  De 
Sauty." 

August  15.  Scarcely  any  intelligible  signals  received  either 
way. 

August  16.  Some  signals  passed  intelligibly  each  way  to 
11.12  A.M.,  when  Valentia  sent  the  following  despatch  to  New- 
foundland, which  was  correctly  received :  — 

"  Directors  of  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  Great  Britain,  to 
Directors  in  America.  Europe  and  America  are  united  by  tel- 
egraph. Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  on  earth  peace,  good-will 
towards  men." 

Newfoundland  responded  to  Valentia:  —  "Directors:  —  All 
right.  "Will  you  receive  one?" 

At  4.15  P.  M.,  Valentia  commenced  sending  the  Queen's  mes- 
sage, but  at  6.29  P.  M.,  after  sending  aa  far  as  "  greatest  inter- 
est," the  operator  wrote,  "  Wait  repairs  to  cable."  And  it  was  in 
consequence  of  his  making  this  interruption,  without  signifying 
that  the  despatch  was  not  finished,  that  the  unfortunate  error  took 
place  of  forwarding  that  communication  before  completion. 

The  Queen's  message  was  not  completely  finished  until  6.48 
A.  M.  of  the  17th  of  August.  During  that  time  the  repetitions  in 
answer  to  questions  from  Newfoundland  were  very  much  embar- 
rassed, probably  by  earth  currents.  It  was  raining  very  hard  in 
Newfoundland  during  the  whole  time. 

THE  QUEEN'S  MESSAGE. 

"The  Queen  desires  to  congratulate  the  President  upon  the 
successful  completion  of  this  great  international  work,  in  which 
the  Queen  has  taken  the  greatest  interest.  The  Queen  is  con- 
vinced the  President  will  join  with  her  in  fervently  hoping  that 
the  electric  cable  which  now  connects  Great  Britain  with  the 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  187 

United  States  will  prove  an  additional  link  between  the  two  na- 
tions, whose  friendship  is  founded  upon  their  common  interest 
and  reciprocal  esteem.  The  Queen  has  much  pleasure  in  thus 
directly  communicating  with  the  President,  and  in  renewing  to 
him  her  best  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States." 

At  10.10  A.  M.,  August  17,  Newfoundland  sent  the  following 
despatch :  — 

"  Directors  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company :  —  Entered  Trinity 
Bay,  noon,  fourth.  Landed  cable  at  six,  Thursday  morning. 
Ship  at  once  to  St.  John's  two  miles  shore  cable,  with  end  ready 
for  splicing.  When  was  cable  landed  at  Valentia  ?  Answer  by 
telegraph,  and  forward  my  letters  to  New  York. 

"CYRUS  W.  FIELD." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Acknowledged.     Go  on." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"Have  you  more?  Always  give  the  signal  <  Cleared  out' 
when  you  finish." 

"  Saward  to  Whitehouse: — Mr.  Cunard  wishes  telegraph  Mc- 
Iver,  Europa  collision  Arabia.  Put  into  St.  Johns.  No  lives 
lost.  Will  you  do  it  ?  Stay  anxiety,  non-arrival. 

«  DE  SAUTY." 

After  the  transmission  of  this  despatch,  which  Valentia  re- 
ceived with  the  loss  of  but  two  letters  in  the  address,  New- 
foundland was  unable  to  receive  anything  during  the  remainder 
of  the  day. 

August  18.  Notwithstanding  both  stations  made  every  exer- 
tion to  restore  communication  by  alternately  sending  and  putting 
in  instruments  to  receive,  nothing  more  was  read  at  Valentia,  and 
not  one  word  in  Newfoundland  during  the  whole  day.  It  is 
proper  to  state,  however,  that  from  6.40  A.  M.  until  9.08  P.  M., 
operations  which  took  place  at  Valentia  prevented  the  possibility 
of  transmission  or  reception.  From  6.40  till  noon,  Mr.  Canning 
was  engaged  in  lifting  the  cable  in  the  harbor.  From  noon  until 
1.30  P.  M.,  efforts  were  made  to  communicate,  and  from  this  time 
till  9.08  P.  M.  operations  obstructed  electrical  working. 


138  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

August  19. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  See  to  adjustment.  Can  you  receive  President's  message  ? 
Been  here  since  yesterday."  .  "We  can't  read."  "Currents 
too  weak  to  read."  "Very  good  currents,  but  can't  read. 
Send  C's." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  C.  C.  C.     Faster." 

(This  in  answer  to  Newfoundland's  request  to  send  C's  for  ad- 
justment.) 

"  Send  message  fast." 

(These  words  came  in  very  good  signals.  The  deflections  on 
galvanometer  very  strong.) 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Have  you  received  message  for  Mclver  ?  Send  acknowledg- 
ment." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"No." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  D.  C.  Mclver,  Liverpool :  —  Arabia  in  collision  with  Europa, 
Cape  Race,  Saturday.  Arabia  on  her  way.  Head  slightly  in- 
jured. Europa  lost  bowsprit,  cutwater;  stern  sprung.  Will 
remain  in  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  ten  days  from  sixteenth. 
Persia  calls  at  St.  John's  for  mails  and  passengers.  No  loss  of 
life  or  limb.  CUNARD." 

"New  York,  August  17." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

«  Cunard.     All  right.     Go  on." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 

"  Washington  City.  To  Her  Majesty,  Victoria,  Queen  of  Great 
Britain:  —  The  President  cordially  reciprocates  the  congratula- 
tions of  Her  Majesty,  the  Queen,  on  the  success  of  this  great  inter- 
national enterprise,  accomplished  by  the  science,  skill,  and  indomi- 
table energy  of  the  two  countries.  It  is  a  triumph  more  glorious, 
because  far  more  useful  to  mankind,  than  ever  was  won  by  con- 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE.  189 

queror  on  the  field  of  battle.  May  the  Atlantic  Telegraph,  under 
the  blessings  of  Heaven,  prove  to  be  a  bond  of  perpetual  peace 
and  friendship  between  the  kindred  nations,  and  an  instrument 
designed  by  Divine  Providence  to  diffuse  religion,  civilization,  lib- 
erty, and  law  throughout  the  world.  In  this  view  will  not  all  the 
nations  of  Christendom  spontaneously  unite  in  the  declaration, 
that  it  shall  be  forever  neutral,  and  that  its  communications  shall 
be  held  sacred  in  passing  to  the  place  of  their  destination,  even 
in  the  midst  of  hostilities  ?  JAMES  BUCHANAN." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  President's  all  right" 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Your  current  much  stronger ;  but  cannot  read  your  signals. 
Repeat."  "Received.  Send  a  few  words."  "Your  currents 
very  weak.  Repeat." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  How  now,  —  can  you  read  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"Understand.  Better  than  ever.  Please  always  commence 
by  attack  and  give  final  signals,  as  we  receive  on  galvanometer. 
Relay  won't  work." 

"  To  Whitehouse.     Please  send  large  circular  galvanometer." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Can  you  take  message  for  Field  ?  " 

(At  8  P.  M.,  Valentia  had  finished  message  to  Mr.  Field. 
Currents  were  strong,  but  very  irregular,  and  only  the  last  five 
words  were  readable.  This  was  the  message  commencing  "  Di- 
rectors have  just  met.") 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Strength  of  your  current  constantly  varies.  Send  Field's 
message."  "  Repeat  all  from  beginning  to '  tariff/  "  "  You  should 
never  send  more  than  a  dozen  words  at  a  time  in  long  messages. 
Repeat  all  of  last  message  before  *  tariff.' "  "  Can't  read.  Send 
dots  and  dashes."  "  After  *  can  you.' " 


190  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"How  now?" 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Better.     Repeat  message  to  Field." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Try  read  on  galvanometer." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

«  Yes.  Repeat  Field's  message."  "  All  to  word  <  the.' "  "  Un- 
derstand after  « met.' " 

(The  last  ten  messages  refer  to  the  following  message  to  Mr. 
Field,  which,  although  commenced  at  3.55  P.  M.  on  the  19th, 
was  not  finished  until  1.45  A.  M.  of  the  20th.) 

August  20. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

«  Now  from  Valentia  to  <  tariff.' "     «  End.     Understand." 
VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"C.  W.  Field,  Newfoundland.  August  17,  3  P.M.:— The 
directors  have  just  met.  They  heartily  congratulate  you  on  suc- 
cess. Agamemnon  anchored  at  Valentia  at  6  A.  M.  on  Thursday, 
August  5.  We  are  just  on  the  point  of  chartering  a  ship  to  lay 
shore-end.  No  time  will  be  lost  in  sending  them  out.  All  your 
letters  have  been  posted  to  New  York.  Please  write  to  me  fully 
about  tariff  and  other  working  arrangements." 

(This  message  was  repeated  from  Newfoundland  to  Valentia  to 
show  that  it  was  understood.) 

"  Can  we  send  faster  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Yes.     I  have  two  messages  since  morning.    Can  I  send  one  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
«  Send  faster." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  How  do  you  receive  now  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Splendid  on  Thomson's  galvanometer,  and  print  on  Morse 
key.  How  do  you  ?  " 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  191 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  We  work  with  Morse  key  and  detector.  Will  you  take  mes- 
sage?" 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  We  can't  unless  on  Company's  service." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"New  York,  August  18.  Directors  of  Atlantic  Telegraph 
Company,  London :  —  The  Directors  of  New  York,  Newfound- 
land, and  London  Telegraph  Company  desire  to  express  to  the 
Directors  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company  their  joy  and  grati- 
tude for  facilities  and  privileges  on  coming  into  closer  union  and 
fellowship  with  them  and  our  fellow-men  throughout  the  world. 
May  the  success  which  has  crowned  our  labors  secure  to  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  a  perpetual  bond  of  peace  and  good  fellowship. 

"  PETER  COOPER,  President." 
VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Directors  all  right." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"New  York,  18.  Directors  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company 
London  :  —  Niagara  arrived  to-day.  All  well.  Full  reports  by 
mail.  I  drew  on  you,  from  St.  Johns,  at  three  days'  sight,  £750 
sterling,  to  pay  laborers  on  Niagara.  Great  rejoicing  all  over 
country  successful  laying  cable.  Please  request  Admiralty  to 
permit  the  Gorgon,  Captain  Dayman,  accompany  Niagara  New 
York.  «  C.  W.  FIELD." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Received  acknowledgment  of  message,  Field  to  Directors." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  To  Whitehouse :  —  Please  send  out  a  large  circular  galva- 
nometer and  another  relay  or  two  as  soon  as  possible. 

"  DE  SAUTY." 
"  If  you  have  anything,  go  on." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Bartholomew  to  De  Sauty :  —  Whitehouse  in  London.  Your 
message  about  galvanometer  gone  there." 


192  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
«  Cleared  out." 

The  Newfoundland  diary  had  in  it  the  following  words:  — 
"  First-rate  signals  from  Valentia  this  morning."  This  was  the 
first  time  the  cleared-out  signal  was  given  by  both  stations  at 
same  time.  All  communications  had  been  accurately  got  off  to 
their  destinations  from  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  operators 
then  spent  two  or  three  hours  in  chatting,  during  which  Newfound- 
land reports  superintendent  and  staff  quite  well,  and  Bull's  Arm 
Station  henceforth  to  be  called  "  Cyrus  Station." 
NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Saward  :  —  Two  cable-splicers  and  gutta-percha  jointer  here 
waiting  to  make  a  splice  in  shore-end.     All  well. 

«DE  SAUTY." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  We  will  send  coil  currents.  Say  if  you  will  receive." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"'Signals  very  good.     Will  you  receive  from  Mayor  Halifax 
to  Lord  Mayor  of  London  ?  " 

"  Have  you  received  my  last  service  message  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  We  can't  take  message." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  The  two  messages  are  from  Mayors  Halifax  and  Toronto." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  We  have  asked  London.  Wait." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Well,  have  you  asked  those  messages  of  De  Sauty  ?  " 
"  Have  you  message." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"No." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Was  message  about  Europa  made  use  of?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"Yes:  it  was  sent  for  publication." 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE.  193 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
a  What  weather  have  you  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
«  Very  fine.  Yours  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Mosquitoes  keep  biting.  This  is  a  funny  place  to  live  in,  — 
fearfully  swampy." 

All  messages  cleared  out  again  from  both  stations. 

August  21. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  We  wish  you  to  send  coil  currents.     Are  you  ready  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
«  Ready." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  We  send  V's." 

Good  dots  and  V's  were  received  at  Newfoundland. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Yes,  we  read  well." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Can  you  read  ?  Send  fast." 

"  I  will  send  V's  by  coil  currents.  Say  if  you  get  them.  Are 
you  ready  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

u  Yes,  quite  ready."  "  Shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you." 
(After  an  hour's  intermission,)  "  Your  signals  not  readable." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"How  now?" 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
«  Better." 

"De  Sauty  to  Bartholomew:  —  Ask  Saward  send  35  feet  f 
gutta-percha  tube,  and  two  gutta-percha  siphons  with  tops,  and 
fifteen  pounds  gutta-percha,  f  sheet." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Bartholomew  to  De  Sauty :  —  Understand.  How  signal* 
now  ?  " 

17  M 


194  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE   LINES. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Not  very  good.  Repeat  my  last." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Bartholemew  to  De  Sauty :  —  Understand.  Can  you  take 

message  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Yes,  but  repeat  figures  of  my  last." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Thirty-five,  three  eight,  two  fifteen,  three  eight." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
u  Understand.  Send  message." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Thomson  to  De  Sauty :  —  Order  McFarlane  to  arrange  a 
mirror  galvanometer  for  receiving.  Use  the  innermost  coil  and 
power  steel  magnetic  adjustment.  Say  when  will  be  ready." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Now  ready.     Go  on." 
"  Land  galvanometer  in  circuit.     Signals  beautiful." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Is  this  first  time  it  is  in  circuit  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA.    ' 
41  No.     Send  thirty-five  words  as  fast  as  you  can." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

""  Use  hundred  Daniell's,  with  reversing  key  in  your  next.  We 
are  going  to  test  the  cable,  and  only  wait  for  a  specimen  of  your 
battery  signals.  After  receiving  which,  we  shall  explain  what  we 
want." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Understand.  What  reversing  key  do  you  mean  ?  We  arc 
getting  ready  Daniell's.  If  you  send  again,  send  faster." 

"  Can't  read."  "  Shall  we  send  battery  currents  since  every- 
thing ready  ?  "  "  Please  send  something." 

August  22. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

4t  Can  you  receive  message  ?  "     (After  an  hour's  intermission,) 


THE   ATLANTIC   CABLE.  195 

"  How   do   you   receive  ? "     (Seven    hours'  intermission,)    "  Do 
you  receive  this  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Can  you  read  this  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Yes.  Can  you  take  message  now  ?  " 

,  VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
«  Yes." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  August  21,  New  York.  Right- Honorable  Sir  Walter  Car- 
den,  Lord  Mayor  of  London:  —  I  congratulate  your  Lordship 
upon  the  successful  laying  of  the  Atlantic  Cable,  uniting  conti- 
nents Europe  and  America,  cities  London  and  New  York,  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  It  is  a  triumph  of  science  and 
energy  over  time  and  space,  uniting  more  closely  the  bonds  of 
peace  and  commercial  prosperity,  —  introducing  an  era  in  the 
world's  history  pregnant  with  results  beyond  the  conception  of  a 
finite  mind. 

"  DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN,  Mayor" 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Mayor's  message  received." 

"  Insulate  for  two  hours,  and  say  when  you  commence.  Re- 
peat this." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Understand.     Cable  insulated." 

u  Have  you  finished  testing  ?  " 

"  Repeat.     Send  much  slower." 

"  Signals  are  good,  but  your  sending  comes  very  bad.  Re- 
peat all." 

"  Please  repeat  service." 

"  Repeat  service  message." 

"  Repeat  service  now." 

The  above  were  all  the  signals  read  after  the  transmission  of 
the  Mayor's  message  at  2.15  P.  M.,  until  10.19  P.  M. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Thomson  to  De  Sauty :  —  Put  delicate  detector  in  circuit,  and 


196  SUBTERRANEAN  AND    SUBMARINE   LINES. 

note  weak  currents  from  us,  thirty  minutes  each  way.     Say  if 

ready." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Repeat  word  after  i  us.' " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"Thirty." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Understand.  Ready  now." 

August  23.  It  rained  very  hard  in  Newfoundland  from  mid- 
night until  six  A.  M. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Your  currents  very  irregular.  Repeat." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Signals  weak.  Will  you  take  message  from  Lord  Mayor  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Yes  ;  send  little  faster  and  better." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Give  '  understand '  every  twenty  words." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  All  right.     Send  much  faster." 
"  Understand,  faster." 
Testing  nearly  the  whole  of  the  day  at  Valentia. 

August  24. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  The  Lord-Mayor  of  London  to  the  Hon.  Daniel  F.  Tiemann, 
Mayor  of  New  York :  —  The  Lord  Mayor  of  London  most  cor- 
dially reciprocates  congratulations  of  Mayor  New  York  upon  the 
success  of  so  important  an  undertaking  as  the  completion  of  the 
Atlantic  Telegraph  Cable.  It  is  indeed  one  of  the  most  glorious 
triumphs  of  the  age,  and  reflects  the  highest  credit  upon  the 
energy,  skill,  and  perseverance  of  all  parties  intrusted  with  so 
difficult  a  duty ;  and  the  Lord  Mayor  sincerely  trusts,  that,  by  the 
blessing  of  Almighty  God,  it  may  be  the  means  of  reuniting 
those  kind  feelings  that  now  exist  between  the  two  countries. 

"  R.  W.  GARDEN,  Lord  Mayor." 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE.  197 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Repeat  between  *  duty '  and  *  sincerely.'  " 
"  Message  all  right,  —  understood." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Thomson  to  De  Sauty  :  —  On  what  instrument  do  you  re- 
ceive ?  How  many  divisions  deflection  do  you  get  ?  What  bat- 
tery ?  How  many  cells  ?  What  key  ?  Directors  desire  you 
send  news,  public  interest,  but  none  commercial.  Have  you  any 
now?" 

"  Can  you  take  a  long  message  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
«  Go  on." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Saward  to  De  Sauty :  —  Answer  by  telegraph  what  length 
shore-end  you  require,  and  if  any  small  cable  as  a  reserve.  How 
much  surplus  had  Niagara,  and  where  is  it  ?  Have  you  splices 
and  jointers  enough  ?  We  have  chartered  the  Bilboa  to  lay  the 
end.  Telegraph  full  particulars,  and  if  you  require  anything 
beside  gutta-percha  articles  I  will  send  them  by  the  Bilboa. 
NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Repeat  from  '  shore-end '  to  <  small.' " 

"  Acknowledged  Saward  to  De  Sauty." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  C.  W.  Field :  —  We  desire  you  to  place  in  America  about 
£  15,000  unappropriated  £  20  shares,  authorized  February  last. 
Reply  by  telegraph.  Soonest.  C.  M.  SAMPSON." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA 
"  Acknowledged  message." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Answer  each  question  about  instruments."  (Refers  to  Thom- 
son's message.) 

"  Your  currents  vary  much.  Very  weak  to-day.  How  ours 
to-day  ?  "  (This  is  in  answer  to  Newfoundland's  attempt  to  send 
message.) 

17* 


198  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  To  Thomson  :  —  Receiving  on  your  galvanometer,  thirty  di- 
visions. Galvanometer  seven  degrees.  Print  local  circuit  by 
hand.  The  large  Smee's.  Whitehouse's  reversing  key.  News 
Persia.  DE  SAUTY." 

"  Have  you  received  message  right  ?  Service  for  Saward. 
Will  you  take  it  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Yes ;  and  prepare  after  to  receive  Thomson's  compensated 
currents." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  De  Sauty  to  Saward  :  —  Two  miles  shore-end  ample.  Have 
half-mile  small  cable ;  plenty.  It  is  stowed  on  beach.  Two 
splicers  and  jointer  here.  Six  gallons  naphtha  required.  Please 
send  authority  to  draw  on  Brooking.  £  100  required  immedi- 
ately for  laborer's  house  in  a  wilderness.  Roads  to  make  and 
woods  to  cut  down  and  clear.  Ought  to  have  some  more  relays. 
Have  only  one  great  difficulty  in  sending  letters  from  here. 
Have  written  fully." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Understand.  Give  news  of  Persia.  Also  public  news  for 
morning  papers.  Send  much  faster." 

August  25. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Persia  takes  Europa's  passengers  and  mail.  Great  rejoicing 
everywhere  at  success  of  cable.  Bonfires,  fireworks,  feu  de  joies, 
speeches,  balls,  etc.,  etc.  Mr.  Eddy,  the  first  and  best  telegrapher 
in  the  States,  died  to-day.  Pray  give  some  news  for  New  York  ; 
they  are  mad  for  news.1' 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Understand.  Sent  to  London  for  news.  Meantime  take 
Thomson's  currents.  Say  when  ready." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Splendid  sending.     We  are  quite  ready." 

"  Murray  to  Thomson :  —  Signals  very  weak.  Send  stronger 
acid." 

"  Can  you  receive  ?  " 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  199 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Thomson  to  McFarlane :  —  Where  are  keys  of  the  glasj 
cases  and  drawers  in  the  apparatus-room  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  McFarlane  to  Thomson :  —  Don't  recollect." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Saward  to  De  Sauty :  —  Are  American  wires  broken,  or 
working  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Working." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Field :  —  I  send  my  warmest  congratulations  on  the  success 
of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph.  God  be  praised !  GURNEY." 

(This  was  acknowledged  by  Newfoundland.) 
"  North  American  with  Canadian,  and  the  Asia  with  direct 
Boston  mails,  leave  Liverpool,  and  Fulton  Southampton,  Satur- 
day next.  To-day's  morning  papers  have  long,  interesting  re- 
ports by  Bright.  Indian  news.  —  Virago  arrived  at  Liverpool 
to-day  ;  Bombay  dates  19  July.  Mutiny  being  rapidly  quelled." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

u  Sampson,  London  :  —  I  will  attend  to  your  request.  Have 
no  doubt  I  can  do  what  you  require.  CYRUS  W.  FIELD." 

This  was  acknowledged  by  Newfoundland. 

August  26. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Why  don't  you  give  *  finis '  (signal)  when  you  have  done  ?  " 
VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  We  have  had  storm,  with  thunder.  Cable  put  to  earth  for 
one  hour  twenty-five  minutes." 

(Professor  Thomson  was  testing  from  9  A.  M.  till  11.30  A.  M. 
On  the  morning  of  Thursday,  August  26,  there  was  a  storm  of 
heavy  rain,  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning,  in  Newfound- 
land. It  commenced  at  2.30  A.  M.,  and  at  3.05  A.  M.  the  light- 
ning was  so  intense  that  the  end  of  the  cable  was  put  to  earth 
for  protection.  At  4.30  A.  M.  the  storm  ceased,  and  at  7.15 
A.  M.  the  weather  is  noted  as  having  been  since  very  fine.) 


200  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

"  Can't  read  your  signals.     Send  slower,  and  repeat  all." 

"  Your  signals  too  weak  to  read." 

"  Your  signals  very  weak.  Have  twenty  messages  for  you. 
Will  you  take  them  ?  " 

"  Your  signals  better.     Repeat." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Try  only  one  galvanometer  in  circuit.     We  must  understand 
stoppage  of  Monday  night  and  learn  how  to  manage." 
NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  stoppage  of  Monday  night  ?  " 

"  Understand.     Go  on." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Saward  to  De  Sauty :  —  T.  H.  Brooking  &  Co.  authorize  an 
advance  on  your  order  by  Hepburn  to  extent  of  one  hundred 
pounds." 

"  Thomson  to  De  Sauty:  —  Your  signals  were  very  weak  Mon- 
day night  at  1.12  Greenwich  time.  None  came  from  2.44  to 
4.06.  Then  very  weak  indeed.  Improved  later.  At  8  good. 
We  sent  one  message  eight  times,  from  2.45  till  5.12.  Had  no 
reply.  Stoppage  again  from  2  to  6  in  the  afternoon.  Can  you 
explain  why  ?  Tell  us  each  time." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Understand.  New  York,  25  August.  Samuel  Gurney,  Esq., 
London :  —  Many  thanks  for  message  received.  Americans  wild 
with  joy.  Great  celebration  throughout  the  land,  September  1 
and  2. 

"  C.  W.  FIELD." 
August  27. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Have  you  received  message  to  Gurney  ?  " 
"  Please  take  message,  Thomson." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  No.     Must  send  long  press  messages.     Are  you  ready  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Understand.     Signals  weak.     Send  ten  words  at  a  time." 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE.  201 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  George  Saward,  Secretary  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  to 
Associated  Press,  58  Beaver  Street,  New  York :  —  News  for 
America  by  Atlantic  Cable.  Emperor  of  France  returned  to  Paris 
Saturday.  King  of  Prussia  too  ill  to  visit  Queen  Victoria.  Her 
Majesty  returns  to  England  31st  August.  —  St.  Petersburg,  21st 
August.  Settlement  of  Chinese  question.  Chinese  Empire  open 
to  trade  ;  Christian  religion  allowed ;  foreign  diplomatic  agents 
admitted  ;  indemnity  to  England  and  France.  —  Alexandria,  Au- 
gust 9.  The  Madras  arrived  at  Suez  7th  inst.  Dates,  Bombay 
19th,  Aden  31st.  Gwalior  insurgent  army  broken  up.  All 
India  becoming  tranquil" 

This  message  was  commenced  at  2.10  A.  M.  and  finished  at 
11.10A.M. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  De  Sauty :  —  Till  not  troubled  by  stoppage,  every  day,  shall 
send,  and  you  receive,  from  12  to  1,  from  2  to  3,  from  4  to  5,  &c. 
You  send  from  1  to  2,  from  3  to  4,  &c.  Never  stop  during  hour. 
Give  reversals  when  not  speaking." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Is  this  Greenwich  time  ?     If  so,  give  us  1  o'clock." 
VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Yes  ;  we  begin  now,  and  to  11,  if  you  understand." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Understand." 

August  28. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"To  the  Directors  :  —  Take  news  first,  Saward.  Sir  William 
Williams,  of  Kars,  arrived  Halifax  Tuesday.  Enthusiastically 
received.  Immense  procession,  welcome  address,  feeling  reply. 
Held  levee ;  large  numbers  presented.  Niagara  sailed  for  Liv- 
erpool at  one  this  morning.  The  Gorgon  arrived  at  Halifax 
last  night.  Yellow  fever  in  New  Orleans,  sixty  to  seventy  deaths 
per  day.  Also  declared  epidemic,  Charleston.  Great  prepara- 
tions in  New  York  and  other  places  for  celebration  to  be  held 
1st  and  2d  Sept.  New-Yorkers  will  make  it  the  greatest  gala 


202  SUBTEKRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

day  ever  known  in  this  country.  Hermann  sailed  for  Frazer's 
River  ;  six  hundred  passengers.  Prince  Albert  sailed  yesterday 
for  Galway.  Arabia  and  Ariel  arrived  New  York ;  Anglo- 
Saxon,  Quebec ;  Canada,  Boston.  Europa  left  St.  John's  this 
evening.  Splended  aurora  Bay  Bulls  to-night,  extending  over 
eighty-five  degrees  of  the  horizon. 

"DE  SAUTY." 
VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Understand  l  per.'     Send  faster." 

«  Repeat «  Sept.'  to  <  day  ever.' " 

"Take  one  from  Thomson.     Can  you  read?" 
NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Understand,  '  yes ' ;  understand." 

"  After  <  fifty  yards,'  repeat." 

"  We  received  badly  all  day  Monday ;  weak  signals  on  after 
'  fifty  yards.' "  [Messages  referred  to  some  parts  of  a  message 
which  they  could  not  make  out  in  Newfoundland,  and  which  they 
did  not  succeed  in  obtaining.] 

"  Nothing  received." 

"  Say  if  you  have  received  Thomson's." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"No;  send  it." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Shall  repeat  message  Thomson." 

August  29. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  How  are  my  signals  ?  " 

(No  communications  from  Newfoundland  to-day.) 

August  30. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"Can  you  read?" 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Yes,  we  can  read  you.  Send  news  slowly.  Saward  asks 
where  Kells  is  ?  How  are  my  signals  ?  Persia  arrived  Saturday. 
Receive  on  one  galvanometer  only,  fault  signals,  produced  currents 
from  coil  of  your  larger  galvanometer"  (None  of  the  words  ital- 
icized were  read  in  Newfoundland.) 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  203 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"  Can  read  some  of  your  sending.  Take  this  message  :  —  New 
York.  The  Directors  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  London. 
Parties  pressing  upon  us  messages  for  Europe.  When  will  line 
be  open  for  business  ?  Has  Mr.  Morgan  sailed  for  New  York  ? 
Early  in  the  morning  of  September  1,  please  send  me  message 
that  I  can  read  at  the  celebration  that  day,  and  another  on  the 
2d,  I  can  read  at  dinner  that  evening. 

«  C.  W.  FIELD." 

August  31. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  Can  you  read  ?  We  have  two  government  messages.  Will 
you  take  ?  Reply  direct." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"Try,  but  send." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"The  Military  Secretary  to  Coinmander-m-Chief  Horse 
Guards,  London.  To  General  Trollope,  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia : 
—  The  sixty-second  regiment  is  not  to  return  to  England." 

(This  message,  and  that  which  will  be  found  farther  on  in  re- 
gard to  the  thirty-ninth  regiment,  saved  to  the  British  government 
the  sum  of  fifty  thousands  pounds  ($250,000),  by  avoiding  the 
shipment  and  transportation  of  troops.) 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 

"This  received;  The  Military  Secretary  to  Commander-in- 
Chief  Horse  Guards,  London." 

"  <  Trollope,'  understand.     Go  on  after  '  Scotia.'  " 


"  Is  it  finished  after  <  England  ? ' " 


VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Yes.     Now  take  another.     Are  you  ready  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"Yes,  send." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND 
"The    Military    Secretary    to     Commander-in-Chief    Horse 


204  SUBTERRANEAN  AND  SUBMARINE  LINES. 

Guards,  to  General  Officer  commanding,  Montreal,  Canada:  — 
The  thirty-ninth  regiment  is  not  to  return  to  England." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  I  want  you  to  repeat  *  Canada.' " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Can't  read.  Try  '  Daniels.' " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Repeat  from  <  Canada'  to  '  return.' " 

September  1. 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Canada.  The  thirty-ninth  regiment  is  not  to  return." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Understand.  Will  you  take  a  service  ?  " 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  I  will  try.  Slow." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  We  have  received  nothing  since  you  repeated  last." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Can  you  take  message  ?  " 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
«Yes." 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 

"  C.  W.  Field,  New  York :  —  The  directors  are  on  their  way 
to  Valentia  to  make  arrangements  for  opening  wire  to  public. 
They  convey  through  cable  to  you  and  your  fellow-citizens  their 
hearty  congratulations  and  good  wishes,  and  cordially  sympathize 
in  your  joyous  celebration  of  the  great  international  work." 

NEWFOUNDLAND  TO  VALENTIA. 
"  Forty-eight  words.     Right,  right." 
(These  were  the  last  words  received  at  Valentia.) 

VALENTIA  TO  NEWFOUNDLAND. 
"  Right  (signal  understand)." 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  205 

Some  portions  of  the  following  message  were  received  in  New- 
foundland :  — 

"  O.  W.  Field,  New  York,  please  inform  American  government 
we  are  now  in  position  to  do  best  to  forward  their  government 
messages  to  England. 

"  SAWARD,  London." 

The  words  italicized  in  the  message  were  received  in  New- 
foundland, and  they  were  the  last  received  from  Valentia. 

A  Summary,  showing  the  Number  of  Messages,  and  the  Words  and 
Letters  they  contain,  sent  through  the  Atlantic  Cable  from  Valen- 
tia to  Newfoundland. 

Messages.  Words.  Letters. 

Friday,  Aug.  13,  9  7  47 

Saturday,  "14,  10  14  76 

Sunday,  "15,  1  1  4 

Monday,  "16,  12  169  835 

Tuesday,  "17,  4  9  43 

Wednesday,  "      18, 

Thursday,  «      19,  8  30  125 

Friday,  «      20,  22  198  967 

Saturday,  "      21,  10  126  626 

Sunday,  «      22,  5  38  188 

Monday,  «      23,  2  14  70 

Tuesday,  «      24,  14  301  1,475 

Wednesday,  "      25,  6  99  490 

Thursday,  "26,  4  119  595 

Friday,  "      27,  5  166  823 

Saturday,  "      28,  4  19  88 

Sunday,  "29,  1  4  15 

Monday,  «      30,  1  13  65 

Tuesday,  «      31,  8  85  411 

Wednesday,             ,      Sept.  1,  3  62  310 

Total,  20  days,  129          1,474          7,253 


206 


SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 


A  Summary,  showing  the  Number  of  Messages,  and  the  Words  and 
Letters  they  contain,  sent  through  the  Atlantic  Gable  from  New- 
foundland to  Valentia. 


Day. 

Tuesday, 

Wednesday, 

Thursday, 

Friday, 

Saturday, 

Sunday, 

Monday, 

Tuesday, 

Wednesday, 

Thursday, 

Friday, 

Saturday, 

Sunday, 

Monday, 

Tuesday, 

Wednesday, 

Thursday, 

Friday, 

Saturday, 

Sunday, 

Monday, 

Tuesday, 

Wednesday, 

Total, 


No.  of 


16 
12 

5 

27 
17 

8 
18 
10 

2 

21 
23 
17 
14 

4 
12 
14 
13 
18 

7 

2 

7 
4 


No.  of 
Words. 


76 
39 
20 


No.  of 
Letters. 


54 

231 

41 

182 

43 

167 

221 

249 

58 

1,103 
1,238 

285 

129 

623 

268 
12 

1,335 

60 

352 
415 
121 

1,740 
2,054 
565 

140 

700 

18 

90 

154 

764 

129 

640 

109 

546 

67 

335 

170 

850 

375 

187 
98 


23  days,  271  2,885        14,168 


The  reader  is  aware  of  the  tenacity  with  which  many  people 
have  held  to  the  belief  that  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  was  an  imprac- 
ticable undertaking,  and  of  the  controversy  which  was  waged  a 
few  months  ago,  which  had  for  its  object  the  refutation  of  the 
statement  that  the  cable  was  ever  successfully  worked,  or  that 
even  a  single  word  was  sent  from  station  to  station.  A  reference 
to  the  summary  of  the  messages  presented  above  shows  that  from 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE.  207 

the  10th  of  August  to  the  18th  of  September  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  messages  were  sent  from  Valentia  to  Newfoundland ; 
while  the  number  sent  from  Newfoundland  to  Valentia  during  the 
same  period  was  two  hundred  and  seventy-one,  making  a  total  of 
four  hundred  messages  sent  both  ways.  This  statement  is  veri- 
fied on  oath  by  Henry  "W.  Irvin  of  the  Electric  Staff  in  New- 
foundland, and  Edward  Bull  of  the  Electric  Staff  at  Valentia, 
Ireland,  before  Mr.  Robert  B.  Campbell,  United  States  Consul  at 
London. 

"  For  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Esq. :  —  Correct  diary  of  messages  sent 
through  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

"July  4,  1859." 

"  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Esq. :  —  I  hereby  certify  this  document  to  be 
a  faithful  and  complete  record  of  the  communications  and  messages 
sent  and  received  through  the  Atlantic  telegraph  cable  during  the 
period  of  its  working,  —  viz.  from  August  the  10th  to  September 
the  1st,  inclusive,  —  extracted  from  and  collated  with  the  diaries 
kept  at  the  respective  stations,  at  Valentia,  Ireland,  and  Cyrus 
Station,  Bay  of  Bull's  Arm,  Newfoundland. 

"  HENRY  W.  IRVIN, 

Of  the  Electrical  Staff  in  Newfoundland." 
"London,  July  7,  1859." 

"  CONSULATE  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  OP  AMERICA,   LONDON. 

«I,  Robert  B.  Campbell,  Consul  of  the  United  States  of  America 
for  London  and  the  dependencies  thereof,  do  hereby  certify  that 
on  this  6th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty-nine,  before  me  personally  appeared  and  came 
Henry  W.  Irvin,  to  me  known,  who  signed  the  following  certificate 
in  my  presence,  and  then  and  there  acknowledged  the  same  to  be 
his  free  act  and  deed.  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  herewith  set 
my  hand  and  affixed  my  seal  of  office  at  London,  this  day  and  year 
above  mentioned,  and  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  the  independence 
of  the  said  United  States. 

[SEAL.]  "ROBERT  B.  CAMPBELL. 


208  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

"  This  is  to  certify  that  I  was  on  board  the  Agamemnon  during 
the  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable,  and  employed  on  the  electrical 
staff  from  the  time  the  cable  was  landed,  August  5,  1858,  to  the 
4th  of  November,  1858,  inclusive,  and  that  the  annexed  is  a  cor- 
rect account  of  messages  sent  and  received  through  the  Atlantic 
cable  from  August  10  to  September  1,  both  inclusive. 

"EDWARD  BULL, 
Of  the  Electrical  Staff  at  Valentia,  Ireland." 

Here,  then,  we  have  four  hundred  hard,  solid  facts  for  the 
digestion  of  those  who  still  contend  that  no  message  was  ever 
received  through  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Cable.  Some,  how- 
ever, went  still  further  in  their  scepticism,  asserting  that  the 
cable  never  was  laid ;  and  one  individual  in  England  became  so 
crazy  upon  the  subject  that  the  police  authorities  of  London  were 
obliged  to  look  after  him.  The  array  of  facts  which  we  present 
will  do  more  to  satisfy  the  public  mind  in  regard  to  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  great  work,  than  anything  that  has  yet  been  pub- 
lished. Who  can  doubt  for  a  moment  that  it  will  be  accom- 
plished, when  he  learns  that  all  these  messages  were  transmitted 
through  the  cable  under  the  most  unfavorable  circumstances,  and 
despite  the  defects  which  it  is  now  known  existed  in  the  insula- 
tion ?  And  here  it  may  be  well,  as  this  is  an  important  feature 
in  the  history  of  the  enterprise,  to  refer  to  it  more  at  length. 

When  the  cable  was  in  process  of  manufacture  in  the  factory 
of  Messrs.  Glass  and  Elliott,  in  Greenwich,  near  London,  it  was 
coiled  in  four  large  vats,  and  there  left  exposed,  day  after  day,  to 
the  heat  of  a  summer  sun,  which  was  intensified  by  the  tarred 
coating  of  the  cable  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees.  This 
went  on,  day  after  day,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  engineer  and 
electrician  of  the  company,  although  the  directors  had  given  ex- 
plicit orders  that  sheds  should  be  erected  over  the  vats  to  prevent 
the  possibility  of  such  an  occurrence.  As  might  have  been  fore- 
seen, the  gutta-percha  was  melted,  so  that  the  conductor  which  it 
was  desired  to  insulate  was  so  twisted  by  the  coils  that  it  was  left 
quite  bare  in  numberless  places,  thus  weakening,  and  eventually, 
when  the  cable  was  submerged,  destroying  the  insulation.  The 


THE   ATLANTIC    CABLE.  209 

injury  was  partially  discovered  before  the  cable  was  taken  out  of 
the  factory  at  Greenwich,  and  a  length  of  about  thirty  miles  was 
cut  out  and  condemned.  This,  however,  did  not  wholly  remedy 
the  difficulty,  for  the  defective  insulation  became  frequently  and 
painfully  apparent  while  the  cable  was  being  submerged.  Still 
further  evidence  of  its  condition  was  afforded  when  it  came  to  be 
cut  up  for  charms  and  trinkets.  Despite  of  all  this,  however,  it 
is  now  proved  in  the  most  conclusive  manner  that  the  cable  not 
only  worked  after  it  was  submerged,  between  Ireland  and  New- 
foundland, but  that  four  hundred  messages  were  sent  through  it 
even  in  its  defective  condition. 

There  is  one  fact  particularly  deserving  of  notice,  as  showing 
the  great  importance  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  in  a  commercial 
point  of  view.  We  refer  to  the  collision  of  the  Europa  and  Ara- 
bia, which  was  made  known  under  two  days  after  its  occurrence 
off  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  But  this  is  not  all,  for  there  is 
another,  if  possible,  still  more  conclusive  on  the  subject.  The 
British  government  was  enabled,  through  the  transmission  of  two 
despatches  to  Halifax  and  Montreal,  to  countermand  the  sailing 
of  a  large  body  of  troops  who  had  previously  received  orders  by 
mail  to  proceed  to  India.  The  amount  which  they  saved  by  the 
telegraph  in  this  way  is  estimated  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.  Of  the  commercial  importance  of  the  line,  how- 
ever, there  can  be  no  doubt,  when  it  is  known  that,  almost  imme- 
diately after  the  cable  was  laid,  the  company  were  beset  with 
applications  and  requests  that  it  should  at  once  be  thrown  open 
for  the  transmission  of  business  messages. 

The  best  guaranty  for  the  permanent  success  of  the  enterprise 
is  to  be  found  in  the  new  basis  upon  which  it  has  been  placed. 
The  company  have  reorganized  the  electrical  and  engineering 
departments,  and  have  got  rid  of  their  former  chief  electrician 
and  engineer,  and  the  useless  members  of  their  respective  corps. 
This  is  the  wisest  thing  they  could  have  done,  and  the  only 
wonder  is  that  they  did  not  dismiss  these  gentlemen  before  ;  but 
the  company  imagined  they  could  get  along  with  them  without 
resorting  to  so  severe  a  course,  —  a  course  which,  however 
severe  it  might  appear,  was  yet  the  only  one  left,  and  the  one 
18*  N 


210  SUBTERRANEAN  AND   SUBMARINE  LINES. 

which  we  now  see  they  have  been  obliged  to  adopt.  The  bung- 
ling manner  in  which  the  electricians  stationed  at  the  opposite  ends 
of  the  line  performed  their  work,  is  evident  from  a  perusal  of  the 
messages  to  which  we  have  referred.  They  appear  to  have  had 
no  regular  system,  but  evidently  worked  without  a  settled  plan, 
and  as  chance  favored  them.  Now,  in  consideration  of  all  this, 
the  only  wonder  is  that  they  were  ever  able  to  get  a  single  mes- 
sage through  the  conductor.  However,  as  we  have  said,  they 
have  been  discharged,  the  two  departments  have  been  reorgan- 
ized, and,  with  the  experience  which  the  company  have  acquired, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  their  next  success  will  be  a  permanent  one. 
The  revolution  which  has  been  effected  in  the  electrical  and  en- 
gineering departments  was  accomplished  during  the  recent  visit 
of  Mr.  Field  to  England.  This  is  just  what  was  wanted  to  insure 
the  success  of  the  enterprise,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that  in  the 
course  of  another  year  the  Atlantic  telegraph  will  be  a  fixed  fact, 
so  that  when  the  next  war  breaks  out  in  Europe  we  shall  receive 
daily  despatches  in  regard  to  its  progress.  In  conclusion,  we 
may  state  that  preparations  are  now  being  made  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  a  new  and  improved  form  of  cable,  the  conductor  of  which 
will  be  composed  of  a  strand  of  seven  wires,  about  double  the  thick- 
ness of  the  conductor  of  the  cable  which  now  lies  stretched  along 
the  great  telegraph  plateau  from  the  two  island  outposts  of  the 
Old  and  New  Worlds.  By  increasing  the  thickness  of  the  core, 
or  conductor,  greater  rapidity  in  the  transmission  of  messages  is 
secured,  besides  greater  strength  in  the  copper  wires  of  which  it 
is  composed.  We  also  learn  that  two  vessels  are  now  in  course 
of  construction  for  the  express  purpose  of  laying  cables,  and  that 
they  will  be  ready  long  before  the  time  appointed  for  the  setting 
out  of  the  next  expedition.  The  British  government  will,  we 
understand,  give  the  services  of  two  of  their  war  steamers  as 
escorts,  and  furnish  as  many  men  as  may  be  required. 

The  following  statement  from  Mr.  F.  C.  Webb,  Chief  Elec- 
trician of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  dated  Valentia, 
August  10,  1859,  is  the  latest  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  the 
cable.  It  is  addressed  to  the  Chairman  and  Directors  of  the  At- 
lantic Telegraph  Company. 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE.  211 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  — 

"According  to  your  request,  I  have  made,  from  Valentia,  a 
careful  examination  of  the  electrical  state  of  the  Atlantic  cable. 
I  made  some  tests  for  comparison  on  the  various  pieces  of  Atlan- 
tic cable  in  Messrs.  Glass's  premises  at  Greenwich,  during  July- 
Si  and  August  1. 

"  I  arrived  here  on  the  4th  instant,  and,  assisted  by  Mr.  Gollett, 
made  experiments  during  the  5th,  6th,  8th,  and  9th  instant. 

"  I  find  the  lowest  resistance  shown  to  be  278  statute  miles. 

"  I  find  it  is  possible  to  increase  this  resistance  up  to  589  miles, 
by  sending  a  copper  current  for  some  time  from  six  12-plate 
Daniell's  batteries. 

"  By  experiments  I  have  made  on  various  kinds  of  constructed 
faults,  I  find  that  a  fault  which  could  be  thus  oxidized  so  as  to 
give  (by  reversal  of  the  current)  a  difference  of  resistance  equal 
to  the  difference  obtainable  on  the  cable,  viz.  311  miles,  must 
give  a  minimum  resistance  of  about  1 6  miles. 

"  When  the  fault  is  large,  and  thus  gives  little  resistance,  no 
great  change  can  be  obtained  by  reversing  the  battery;  and, 
indeed,  it  is  evident  that  when  the  connection  between  the  line 
and  earth  is  increased  beyond  a  certain  extent  of  surface,  no 
difference  in  the  resistance  of  the  circuit  can  be  obtained  by 
reversing  the  battery. 

"  When  the  fault  is  very  minute,  it  can  be  almost  perfectly 
sealed  up  by  a  copper  current,  but  the  resistance  will  still  be  very 
great,  even  with  a  zinc  current. 

"  My  experiments  show  that  a  fault  of  about  1 6  miles,  mini- 
mum resistance,  can  be  varied  with  certainty  by  reversal  of  the 
battery  to  the  same  degree  as  the  fault  in  the  cable ;  and  that  if 
the  fault  gives  less  resistance  than  16  miles  it  cannot  be  varied 
to  that  extent,  while,  if  it  gives  more  resistance,  the  variation 
cannot  be  produced  With  the  same  certainty,  nor  quite  to  the 
same  degree. 

"  Taking,  therefore,  the  resistance  of  the  fault  and  cable  be- 
yond the  fault  to  be  equal  to  15  miles,  this  would  bring  the  fault 
to  about  263  statute  miles  from  Valentia, 

"  As  I  have  no  information  of  the  return  current  due  to  differ- 


212  SUBTERRANEAN  AND    SUBMARINE   LINES. 

ent  lengths  of  the  Atlantic  cable,  which  might  have  been  observed 
and  tabulated  during  the  paying  out  of  the  cable,  it  is  impossible 
to  check  the  resistance  tests  accurately  by  the  observed  return 
current. 

"  Comparing  it,  however,  with  the  return  current  on  the  Cagli- 
ari  and  Malta  and  Corfu  cables,  and  making,  roughly,  allowance 
for  the  increased  size  of  the  gutta-percha  in  the  Atlantic  cable, 
I  find  it  to  be  about  what  is  due  to  the  supposed  distance  of  the 
fault, 

"  I  also  made  experiments  on  the  return  current  with  a  wire 
leading  to  earth  from  the  cable,  and  by  placing  resistances  in  cir- 
cuit in  this  wire  I  could  represent  a  fault  close  at  hand,  and  of 
varying  resistance. 

"  I  found  that  in  such  an  arrangement,  when  the  artificial  fault 
gave  a  resistance  of  300  miles,  the  return  current  was  only  re- 
duced about  22  per  cent. 

"  If  the  real  fault,  therefore,  was  close  at  hand,  the  return  cur- 
rent of  the  whole  length  of  perfect  cable  beyond  the  fault  would 
be  only  reduced  about  22  per  cent  also. 

"  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  observed  return  current  is  much 
less  than  78  per  cent  of  the  return  current  due  to  the  whole 
cable,  as  it  would  be  if  the  fault  were  close  at  hand  and  of  a 
resistance  of  about  300  miles,  and  that  it  coincides,  as  nearly  as  I 
can  judge,  with  that  due  to  the  length  shown  by  the  resistance. 

"  Again,  when  the  artificial  fault  was  made  to  represent  a 
resistance  of  260  miles,  and  then  increased  to  580,  the  return 
current  only  increased  about  17  per  cent,  whereas  when  the  real 
fault  is  increased  to  the  same  amount  of  resistance  (by  sending  a 
copper  current  for  some  time)  the  return  current  increases  about 
80  per  cent.  This  shows  also  that  the  return  current  is  more 
influenced  by  the  partial  healing  of  the  fault,  than  it  would  be  if 
the  fault  was  a  small  one  near  at  hand,  and  consequently  tends 
ako  to  confirm  the  supposition  that  the  fault  is  distant,  and 
offers,  when  at  its  minimum,  little  resistance. 

"  I  am  of  opinion,  therefore,  that  a  serious  fault  exists  about 
263  statute  miles  from  Valentia,  measured  along  the  cable,  and 
that  the  cable  between  that  spot  and  this  shore  is  comparatively 
perfect. 


THE  ATLANTIC   CABLE. 


213 


"No  tests  from  here  can  now  decide  whether  the  cable  is 
mechanically  severed,  since  all  attempts  to  detect  the  reception 
of  the  most  intense  currents  from  the  opposite  shore  have  long 
since  proved  fruitless. 

"  Still,  from  the  various  circumstances  attendant  on  the  decline 
of  the  insulation,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  con- 
tinuity both  of  the  cable  and  the  conductor  is  perfect. 

"  Whether  any  other  faults  exist  beyond  the  one  alluded  to,  it 
is  impossible  to  ascertain  by  tests  from  Valentia. 

"  The  fact  that  the  signals  received  at  Valentia  were  always 
better  than  those  received  at  Newfoundland  proves,  undoubtedly, 
that  the  worst  insulation  has  always  been  near  Valentia;  and 
therefore  it  seems  probable  that  if  the  fault  which  exists  on  this 
coast,  and  which,  very  likely,  forms  the  principal  cause  of  leakage, 
could  be  removed,  the  insulation  would*  be  so  far  improved  as  to 
render  the  cable  again  available  for  signalling,  provided  the 
fault  which  is  said  (by  those  who  have  tested  from  Newfound- 
land) to  exist  in  Trinity  Bay  were  also  repaired. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Gentlemen, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

«  F.  C.  WEBB." 


PART  V. 

PROGRESS  OF   THE   ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

"  Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

PSALM  xix.  4. 

AMONG  the  impossibilities  enumerated  to  convince  Job  of  his 
ignorance  and  weakness,  the  Almighty  asks,  "  Canst  thou  send 
lightnings,  that  they  may  go,  and  say  unto  thee,  Here  we  are  ?  " 

At  the  present  day,  every  people  in  Christendom  can  respond 
in  the  affirmative. 

The  lines  of  electric  telegraph  are  increasing  so  rapidly,  that 
the  length  in  actual  use  cannot  be  estimated  at  any  moment  with 
accuracy.  At  the  commencement  of  1848,  it  was  stated  that  the 
length  in  operation  in  this  country  was  about  3,000  miles.  At 
the  end  of  1850,  the  lines  in  operation,  or  in  progress,  in  the 
United  States,  amounted  to  22,000  miles.  In  1853,  the  total 
number  of  miles  of  wire  in  America  amounted  to  26,375. 

It  is  but  fifteen  years  since  the  first  line  of  electric  telegraph 
was  constructed  in  this  country ;  and  at  the  present  time  there 
are  not  less  than  50,000  miles  in  successful  operation  on  this 
continent,  having  over  1,400  stations,  and  employing  upwards  of 
10,000  operators  and  clerks.  The  number  of  messages  passing 
over  all  the  lines  in  this  country  annually  is  estimated  at  upwards 
of  5,000,000,  producing  a  revenue  of  $  2,000,000 ;  in  addition 
to  which,  the  press  pays  $  200,000  for  public  despatches. 

In  Europe  there  are  lines  rivalling  those  in  America.  The 
electric  wire  extends  under  the  English  Channel,  the  German 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  215 

Ocean,  the  Black  and  Red  Seas,  and  the  Mediterranean ;  it  passes 
from  crag  to  crag  on  the  Alps,  and  runs  through  Italy,  Switzer- 
land, France,  Germany,  and  Russia.  India,  Australia,  Cuba, 
Mexico,  and  several  of  the  South  American  States,  have  also 
their  lines ;  and  the  wires  uniting  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  States 
will  shortly  meet  at  the  passes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  electric  telegraph,  which  has  made  such  rapid  strides,  is 
yet  in  its  infancy.  The  effect  of  its  future  extension  and  of  new 
applications  cannot  be  estimated,  when,  as  a  means  of  intercourse 
at  least,  its  network  shall  spread  through  every  village,  bringing 
all  parts  of  our  republic  into  the  closest  and  most  intimate  rela- 
tions of  friendship  and  interest.  In  connection  with  the  railroad 
and  steamboat,  it  has  already  achieved  one  important  national 
result.  It  has  made  possible,  on  this  continent,  a  wide-spread, 
yet  closely-linked,  empire  of  States,  such  as  our  fathers  never 
imagined.  The  highest  office  of  the  electric  telegraph,  in  the 
future,  is  thus  to  be  the  promotion  of  unity,  peace,  and  good-will 
among  men. 

In  Europe,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  have  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  miles  of  electric  telegraph,  —  namely,  40,000.  France 
has  26,000  ;  Belgium,  1,600  ;  Germany,  35,000 ;  Switzerland, 
2,000 ;  Spain  and  Portugal,  1,200  ;  Italy,  6,600 ;  Turkey  and 
Greece,  500;  Russia,  12,000;  Denmark  and  Sweden,  2,000. 
In  Italy,  Sardinia  has  the  largest  share  of  lines,  having  about 
1,200  miles ;  and  in  Germany,  after  Austria  and  Prussia,  the 
largest  share  belongs  to  Bavaria,  which  has  1,050.  Saxony  has 
400  miles;  Wiirtemberg,  195.  The  distance  between  stations 
on  lines  of  Continental  telegraph  is  from  ten  to  twelve  miles 
on  the  average,  and  the  number  of  them  is  about  3,800. 

In  France  the  use  of  the  electric  telegraph  has  rapidly  in- 
creased within  the  last  few  years.  In  1851,  the  number  of  de- 
spatches transmitted  was  9,014,  which  produced  76,723  francs. 
In  1858,  there  were  463,973  despatches  transmitted,  producing 
3,516,634  francs.  During  the  last  four  years,  that  is  to  say,  since 
all  the  chief  towns  in  France  have  been  in  electric  communica- 
tion with  Paris,  and  consequently  with  each  other,  there  have 
been  sent  by  private  individuals  1,492,420  despatches,  which  have 


216  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

produced  12,528,591  francs.  Out  of  the  97,728  despatches  ex- 
changed during  the  last  three  months  of  1858,  23,728  were  with 
Paris,  and  15,409  with  the  thirty  most  important  towns  of  France. 
These  15,409  despatches  are  divided,  as  to  their  ohject  or  nature, 
as  follows: — Private  and  family  affair*,  3,102;  journals,  523; 
commerce  and  manufactures,  G,132  ;  Bourse  affairs,  5,253  ;  sun- 
dry affairs,  399. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  rate  of  charges  upon  the  telegraph  lines 
was  formerly  very  exorbitant,  but  within  a  few  years  a  great 
improvement  has  taken  place.  According  to  the  tariff,  as  last 
arranged  by  the  Electric  Telegraph  Company,  all  messages  con- 
sisting of  not  more  than  twenty  words  are  transmitted  to  disr 
tances  not  exceeding  50  miles  for  25  cents ;  to  distances  not  ex- 
ceeding 100  miles,  for  G2  cents  ;  and  to  all  greater  distances,  for 
$1.25.  For  each  additional  ten  words,  or  fraction  of  ten  words, 
proportionate  charges  are  made.  In  certain  exceptional  cases  the 
25-cent  charge  is  extended  to  much  greater  distances  than  50 
miles ;  and  the  62-cent  charge  to  much  greater  distances  than 
100  miles.  These  exceptions  include  towns  of  the  highest  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  importance,  with  which  a  large  tele- 
graphic business  must  always  be  transacted.  Thus,  between  Lon- 
don and  Birmingham  (112  miles),  the  charge  is  only  25  cents; 
and  between  London  and  Liverpool  (210  miles),  London  and 
Manchester  (180  miles),  and  London  and  Carlisle  (309  miles), 
the  charge  is  only  62  cents. 

Among  the  more  recent  improvements  in  the  transaction  of 
telegraphic  business  which  have  been  made  in  England,  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  mentioned. 

Franked  message  papers,  prepaid,  are  now  issued,  procurable 
at  any  stationer's.  These,  with  the  message  filled  in,  can  be  de- 
spatched to  the  office  when  and  how  the  sender  likes  ;  and  the 
Company  intend  very  quickly  to  sell  electric  stamps,  similar  to 
our  postage-stamps,  which  maybe  stuck  on  to  any  piece  of  paper, 
and  frank  its  contents  without  any  further  trouble.  Another  very 
important  arrangement,  for  mercantile  men,  is  the  sending  of  re- 
mittance messages,  by  means  of  which  money  can  be  paid  in  at 
the  central  olnce  in  London,  and,  within  a  few  minutes,  paid  out 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  217 

at  Liverpool  or  Manchester,  or  by  the  same  means  sent  up  to 
town  with  the  like  despatch  from  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Bristol, 
Birmingham,  Leeds,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
Hull,  York,  Plymouth,  and  Exeter.  There  is  a  money-order 
office  in  the  Lothbury  establishment  to  manage  this  department; 
which  will,  no  doubt,  in  all  emergencies,  speedily  supersede  the 
government  money-order  office,  which  works  through  the  slower 
medium  of  the  post-office. 

The  actual  celerity  with  which  correspondence  is  transmitted 
between  London  and  parts  of  Europe  more  or  less  remote,  may 
be  judged  from  the  fact  that  the  Queen's  speech,  delivered  at  the 
opening  of  the  recent  Parliamentary  session,  was  delivered  ver- 
batim, and  circulated  in  Paris  and  in  Berlin,  before  her  Majesty 
had  left  the  House  of  Lords. 

Messages  have  been  sent  from  the  office  in  London  to  Ham* 
burg,  Vienna,  and,  on  certain  occasions,  to  Lemberg,  in  GaUda;, 
being  a  distance  of  1,800  miles,  and  their  reception  acknowk 
edged  by  an  instantaneous  reply. 

In  Australia,  the  electric  telegraph  is  in  constant  use,  affording 
3  remunerating  revenue,  and  the  amount  of  business  has  forced 
on  the  government  the  necessity  of  additional  wires.  .  ? 

Cuba  has  six  hundred  miles  of  wire  in  operation.  Messages 
can  be  transmitted  only  in  Spanish,  and  the  closest  surveillance 
is  maintained  by  the  government  officials  over  all  despatches 
offered  for  transmission.  From  the  fact  that  no  less  than  a  dozen 
errors  occurred  in  a  despatch  transmitted  by  a  Boston  gentleman 
from  Cardenas  to  Havana,  we  judge  that  the  telegraphic  apparar 
tus,  invented  by  our  liberty-loving  American,  Professor  IIousey- 
rebels  at  such  petty  tyranny. 

Several  hundred  miles  of  electric  telegraph  have  been  con- 
structed in  Mexico  ;  but  the  unfortunate  condition  of  the  country 
for  the  last  few  years  has  precluded  the  possibility  of  maintaining 
it  in  working  order,  and  it  has,  like  everything  else  in  the  land  of 
Montezurna,  gone  to  decay. 

The  English  and  Dutch  governments  have  come  to  an  under- 
standing  upon  a  system  of  cables  which  will  unite  India  and 
Australia,  and  eventually  be  extended  to  China.  The  arrange*- 
19. 


218  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

ments  between  the  governments  are :  —  That  the  Indian  and  Im- 
perial governments  shall  connect  India  with  Singapore ;  that  the 
Dutch  government  shall  connect  Singapore  with  the  southeast 
point  of  Java ;  that  the  Australian  governments  shall  connect 
their  continent  with  Java.  The  cable  for  the  Singapore- Java 
section  was  to  have  been  laid  during  the  month  of  December, 
1859  ;  the  Indian  Singapore  section  is  to  be  laid  this  spring 
(1860)  ;  and  the  connection  with  Australia  will,  it  is  believed, 
be  completed  in  the  course  of  next  year. 

The  Red  Sea  and  India  Telegraph  Company  have  announced 
the  arrangements  under  which  they  are  prepared  to  transmit 
messages  for  the  public  between  Alexandria  and  Aden.  Mes- 
sages for  Australia  and  China  will  be  forwarded  by  post  from 
Aden.  It  is  considered  probable  that  a  direct  communication 
with  Alexandria  will  shortly  be  established  through  Constanti- 
nople, and  then  the  news  from  India  will  reach  London  in  ten 
or  eleven  days. 

A  late  European  steamer  brings  a  report  that  two  Russian 
engineers  have  proceeded  to  Pekin,  China,  to  make  preparations 
for  a  telegraphic  connection  between  that  place  and  the  Russian 
territory. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  arrangements  will  soon  be  made 
at  St.  Petersburg,  through  private  companies  and  government 
subsidies,  for  completing  the  line  of  telegraph  from  Novgorod  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Amoor,  and  thence  across  the  straits  to  Russian 
America.  A  gentleman  writing  from  Pekin,  in  August,  1859, 
states  that  these  two  engineers,  one  of  whom  is  a  Russian,  and  the 
other  a  Circassian,  had  been  engaged  in  laying  out  the  route  for  a 
telegraphic  line  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor, 
from  which  it  would  be  extended,  by  the  submarine  process,  to 
the  island  of  Jesso,  which  is  divided  between  the  Russians  and 
the  Japanese.  It  may  even  be  extended  to  Hakodadi,  on  the 
southern  part  of  the  island  and  in  the  Japanese  territory,  a  post 
opened  by  the  late  treaties,  and  already  attaining  a  high  degree  of 
commercial  importance,  especially  to  Russia  and  the  United 
States.  Think  of  it,  —  a  telegraph  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Pacific, 
and  through  the  most  mountainous  regions,  the  most  dreary  des- 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  219 

erts,  the  densest  forests,  and  the  most  uncivilized  races  of  Europe 
and  Asia !  The  Circassian  said  he  had  passed  through  forests 
whose  great  trees  and  undergrowth  were  so  compact  that  he 
could  make  only  three  miles'  progress  a  day.  He  was  often 
obliged  literally  to  cut  his  way  through.  The  distance  from 
Pekin  to  Kiakhta,  in  Siberia,  where  all  commercial  business  is 
transacted  between  the  Russians  and  Chinese,  or  rather  was  be- 
fore the  late  treaties  had  been  concluded,  is  one  thousand  miles, 
and  from  this  point  the  Russians  expect  to  extend  a  branch  line 
to  Pekin  itself.  "  Had  it  been  my  fortune  to  be  here  a  few  years 
hence,  —  less,  probably,  than  half  a  dozen,  —  I  might  have  sent 
you  a  telegraphic  message,  which,  in  a  few  minutes,  should  tell  its 
tale  in  your  very  office-building,  instead  of  waiting  an  indefinite 
period  for  a  conveyance  to  Shanghai,  and  then  travelling  about 
sixty  days  by  sea  and  by  land  before  reaching  its  destination. 
The  distance  from  Pekin  to  Shanghai  is  a  thousand  miles,  which 
are  travelled  in  about  thirty-three  days,  in  chairs,  the  usual  mode 
of  conveyance,  as  wheel-carriages  are  not  used.  The  Prime 
Minister  told  Mr.  Ward,  at  Shanghai,  that  he  would  require  sixty 
days  to  get  back  to  the  capital.  Mails  are  regularly  carried  from 
the  capital  to  all  parts  of  the  empire,  or  at  least  to  the  capital 
cities  of  all  the  provinces.  But  they  are  carried  on  horseback, 
across  rivers  and  over  the  worst  of  roads,  and,  as  I  believe,  con- 
vey only  governmental  matter,  —  the  Pekin  Gazette  and  imperial 
edicts  from  Pekin,  and  the  reports  of  the  provincial  officials  and  all 
sorts  of  Mandarins  in  return.  The  mail,  therefore,  does  nothing  or 
little  for  the  general  enlightenment  and  interests  of  the  people. 
When  Siberia  and  China  have  established  lines  of  telegraph,  and 
magnetic  wires  unite  St.  Petersburg  and  Pekin,  the  most  invinci- 
ble old  fogy  will  admit  the  world  is  making  progress,  in  the 
material  and  earthly,  if  not  in  the  spiritual  and  heavenly.  The 
ordinary  period  occupied  by  the  post  in  travelling  from  Pekin  to 
St.  Petersburg  is  about  sixty  days  ;  but,  last  year,  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  Russian  treaty  at  Tien-tsin,  by  almost  superhuman  ef- 
fort it  was  done  in  a  little  short  of  forty  days,  horse-flesh  heading 
off  steam,  and  the  first  news  of  peace  reaching  France  and  Eng- 
land through  St.  Petersburg,  greatly  to  the  mortification  of  both." 


220  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

When  the  telegraphic,  line  is  stretched  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Amoor  and  to  Pekin,  and  from  London,  under  the 
Mediterranean,  across  Egypt,  under  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  and  thence  across  India  and  Malaya  to  Singapore  and 
Hong  Kong,  a  work  soon  to  be  completed,  the  distance  between 
the  East  and  the  West  will  be  fairly  and  forever  annihilated. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  company  has  already  been  formed  and  incor- 
porated in  Canada,  under  the  name  of  the  Transmundane  Tele- 
graphic Company,  which  will  afford  important  aid  in  continuing 
the  proposed  line  through  British  America.  The  plan  is,  to 
carry  the  wires  from  the  mouth  of  the  Amoor  across  Behring's 
Strait,  to  and  through  Russian  and  British  America.  From  Vic- 
toria a  branch  will  be  extended  to  San  Francisco,  and  another  to 
Canada.  The  line  from  San  Francisco  to  Missouri  is  under  way, 
and  Mr.  Collins,  who  is  engaged  in  the  Russian  and  Canadian 
enterprise,  thinks  that,  by  the  time  it  is  in  operation,  he  shall  have 
extended  his  line  to  San  Francisco. 

This  is  unquestionably  the  most  feasible  route  for  telegraphic 
communication  between  America  and  Europe ;  and,  though  the 
longest  by  several  thousand  miles,  it  would  afford  the  most  rapid 
means  of  communication,  owing  to  the  great  superiority  of  aerial 
over  subaqueous  lines. 

No  limit  has  yet  been  found  to  aerial  telegraphing ;  for,  by 
inserting  transferrers  into  the  more  extended  circuits,  renewed 
energy  can  be  attained,  and  lines  of  several  thousands  of  miles  in 
length  can  be  worked,  if  properly  insulated,  as  surely  as  those  of 
a  hundred.  The  lines  between  New  York  and  New  Orleans  are 
frequently  connected  together  by  means  of  transferrers,  and  direct 
communication  is  had  over  a  distance  of  more  than  two  thousand 
miles.  Quite  recently  direct  communication  was  had  between 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  a  distance  of  over 
three  thousand  miles.  The  operators,  situated  at  this  enormous 
distance  from  each  other,  were  able  to  converse  as  freely  and 
rapidly  as  if  they  had  been  separated  but  a  few  rods.  No  per- 
ceptible retardation  of  the  current  takes  place ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  lines  so  connected  work  as  successfully  as  when  divided  into 
shorter  circuits. 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  221 

This  is  not  the  case  with  subaqueous  lines.  The  employment 
of  submarine,  as  well  as  of  subterranean  conductors,  occasions  a 
small  retardation  in  the  velocity  of  the  transmitted  electricity. 
This  retardation  is  not  due  to  the  length  of  the  path  which  the 
electric  current  has  to  traverse,  since  it  does  not  take  place  with 
a  conductor  equally  long,  insulated  in  the  air.  It  arises,  as  Fara- 
day has  demonstrated,  from  a  static  reaction,  which  is  determined 
by  the  introduction  of  a  current  into  a  conductor  well  insulated, 
but  surrounded  outside  its  insulating  coating  by  a  conducting 
body,  such  as  sea-water  or  moist  ground,  or  even  simply  by  the 
metallic  envelope  of  iron  wires  placed  in  communication  with  the 
ground.  When  this  conductor  is  presented  to  one  of  the  poles  of 
a  battery,  the  other  pole  of  which  communicates  with  the  ground, 
it  becomes  charged  with  static  electricity,  like  the  coating  of  a 
Leyden  jar,  —  electricity  which  is  capable  of  giving  rise  to  a  dis- 
charge current,  even  after  the  voltaic  current  has  ceased  to  be 
transmitted. 

,    M.  Werner  Siemens,  of  Berlin,  observed,  in  1850,  the  following 
remarkable  phenomena :  — 

"  A  very  remarkable  phenomenon  is  constantly  observed  on 
long  submarine  telegraphic  lines.  Suppose  one  extremity,  J3y  of 
the  wire  be  insulated,  and  the  other,  A,  be  connected  with  one 
pole  of  a  battery  of  which  the  other  touches  the  earth :  at  the 
instant  of  communication  a  brief  current  is  observed  in  the  near 
parts  of  the  wire,  in  the  same  direction  as  the  instantaneous  cur- 
rent which  would  exist  if  the  extremity,  B,  were  connected  with 
the  earth ;  on  lines  of  perfect  insulation,  no  trace  of  this  current 
remains.  Suddenly  replacing,  through  the  action  of  a  commuta- 
tor, the  battery  by  an  earth-conductor,  a  second  instantaneous 
current  is  obtained,  of  an  intensity  nearly  equal  to  the  first,  but  in 
the  inverse  direction.  Finally,  breaking  the  communication  of  A 
with  the  battery  and  also  the  earth,  so  as  to  insulate  this  extrem- 
ity, and  uniting  the  end  B,  at  the  same  instant,  with  the  ground, 
an  instantaneous  current  is  observed  nearly  equal  in  intensity  to 
the  former,  and  this  time  in  the  same  direction  as  the  first,  i.  e.  as 
the  continuous  current  of  the  battery.  This  last  experiment  can 
only  be  made  on  a  double  subterranean  or  submarine  line,  having 
19* 


222  PROGRESS   OF    THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

the  two  extremities,  A  and  B,  at  the  same  station.  One  might  at 
first  sight  suppose  these  phenomena  to  be  due  to  secondary  po- 
larities developed  in  the  wire,  but  many  facts  oppose  such  a  con- 
clusion. 1.  The  phenomena  are  more  striking  as  the  wire  is 
better  insulated.  2.  The  currents  are  much  more  brief  than 
those  due  to  secondary  polarities.  3.  Their  intensity  is  propor- 
tional to  the  force  of  the  battery,  and  independent  of  the  intensity 
of  any  derived  current  that  may  occur  in  consequence  of  imper- 
fect insulation ;  it  follows  that  the  intensity  of  the  instantaneous 
currents  can  greatly  surpass  the  maximum  intensity  which  sec- 
ondary currents  in  the  same  circuit  could  acquire.  4.  Finally, 
the  intensity  of  the  instantaneous  current  is  proportional  to  the 
length  of  the  wire,  whilst  an  inverse  relation  ought  to  occur  if  the 
currents  were  due  to  secondary  polarities. 

"  The  above  phenomena  are  easily  comprehended,  if  we  recall 
the  beautiful  experiment  by  which  Volta  furnished  the  most  strik- 
ing proof  of  the  identity  of  galvanism  and  electricity.  He  showed 
that,  in  communicating  one  of  the  ends  of  his  pile  with  the  earth, 
and  the  other  with  the  interior  of  a  non-insulated  Leyden  bat- 
tery, the  battery  was  charged  in  an  instant  of  time  to  a  degree 
proportional  to  the  force  of  the  pile.  At  the  same  time  an  instan- 
taneous current  was  observed  in  the  conductor  between  the  pile 
and  the  battery,  which,  according  to  Hitter,  had  all  the  properties 
of  an  ordinary  current.  Now  it  is  evident  that  the  subaqueous 
wire  with  its  insulating  covering  may  be  assimilated  exactly  to  an 
immense  Leyden  battery.  The  glass  of  the  jars  represents  the 
gutta-percha ;  the  internal  coating  is  the  surface  of  the  copper 
wire ;  the  external  surface  is  the  surrounding  metallic  envelope 
and  water.  To  form  an  idea  of  the  capacity  of  this  new  kind  of 
battery,  we  have  only  to  remember  that  the  surface  of  the  wire 
is  equal  to  fourteen  square  yards  per  mile.  Making  such  a  wire 
communicate  by  one  of  its  ends  with  a  pile,  of  which  the  other 
extremity  is  in  contact  with  the  earth,  whilst  the  other  extremity 
of  the  wire  is  insulated,  must  cause  the  wire  to  take  a  charge  of 
the  same  character  and  tension  as  that  of  the  pole  of  the  pile 
touched  by  it.  That  is  what  came  to  pass  in  the  first  of  the  in- 
stantaneous currents  described.  In  Volta's  experiment,  on  break- 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  223 

ing  the  communication  between  the  pole  and  the  battery,  and 
connecting  the  two  coatings  of  the  latter  by  a  conductor,  an  ordi- 
nary discharge  was  obtained.  To  this  discharge  correspond  the 
two  instantaneous  currents  which  are  observed  in  opposite  direc- 
tions at  the  two  extremities  of  the  charged  wire,  on  communi- 
cating their  extremities  with  the  earth,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
pile.  It  will  be  understood,  also,  that  the  first  instantaneous  cur- 
rent, namely,  that  which  is  connected  with  the  charge  of  the  wire, 
ought  to  be  equally  produced,  though  of  a  lower  intensity,  even 
when  the  other  extremity  of  the  wire  is  in  communication  with  the 
earth.  The  instantaneous  current  then  precedes  the  continuous 
current,  or,  if  the  statement  be  preferred,  is  added  to  it  at  the 
first  moment.  This  instantaneous  current  has  an  intensity  much 
greater  than  that  of  the  continuous  current ;  doubtless  because, 
in  the  act  of  charging  the  wire,  the  electricity,  in  going  to  the 
different  points  of  the  wire,  passes  through  paths  so  much  the 
shorter  as  the  points  to  be  charged  are  nearer  to  the  pile." 

Professor  Wheatstone  experimented  upon  the  cable  intended 
to  unite  La  Spezia,  upon  the  coast  of  Piedmont,  with  the  island 
of  Corsica.  It  was  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  in  length,  and 
contained  six  copper  wires  one  sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
individually  insulated,  and  each  covered  with  a  coating  of  gutta- 
percha  one  twelfth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  The  cable  was  coiled 
in  a  dry  pit  in  the  yard,  with  its  two  ends  accessible.  The  ends 
of  the  different  wires  could  be  united,  so  as  to  make  of  all  these 
wires  merely  one  wire  six  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  length, 
through  which  the  electric  current  could  circulate  in  the  same 
direction.  This  current  was  itself  furnished  by  an  insulated 
battery  formed  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  Wheatstone's  pairs, 
equal  to  fifty  of  Grove's. 

In  the  first  series  of  experiments,  it  was  proved  that,  if  one  of 
the  ends  of  the  long  wire,  whose  other  end  remained  insulated, 
were  made  to  communicate  with  one  of  the  poles  of  the  battery, 
the  wire  became  charged  with  the  electricity  of  that  pole,  which, 
so  long  as  it  existed,  gave  rise  to  a  current  which  was  made  evi- 
dent by  a  galvanometer ;  but  in  order  to  obtain  this  result,  the 
second  pole  of  the  battery  must  communicate  with  the  ground,  or 
with  another  long  wire  similar  to  the  first. 


224  PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

In  a  second  series  of  experiments,  Professor  Wheatstone  inter- 
posed three  galvanometers  in  the  middle  and  at  the  ends  of  the 
circuit,  determining  in  this  manner  the  progress  of  the  current 
by  the  order  which  they  followed  in  their  deviation.  If  the  two 
poles  of  the  battery  were  connected  by  the  long  conductor  of  six 
hundred  and  sixty  miles,  the  precaution  having  been  taken  to 
divide  it  into  two  portions  of  equal  length,  it  was  observed,  on 
connecting  the  two  free  extremities  of  these  two  portions  in  order 
to  close  the  circuit,  that  the  galvanometer  placed  in  the  middle 
was  the  first  to  be  deflected,  whilst  the  galvanometers  placed  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  poles  were  not  deflected  until  later. 

By  a  third  series  of  experiments,  Wheatstone,  with  the  galva- 
nometer, has  shown  that  a  continuous  current  may  be  maintained 
in  the  circuit  of  the  long  wire  of  an  electric  cable,  of  which  one 
of  the  ends  is  insulated,  whilst  the  other  communicates  with  one 
of  the  poles  of  a  battery  whose  other  pole  is  connected  with  the 
ground.  This  current  is  due  to  the  uniform  and  continual  dis- 
persion of  the  statical  electricity  with  which  the  wire  is  charged 
along  its  whole  length,  as  would  happen  to  any  other  conducting 
body  placed  in  an  insulating  medium. 

It  was  owing  to  the  retardation  from  this  cause  that  communi- 
cation through  the  Atlantic  Cable  was  so  exceedingly  slow  and 
difficult,  and  not,  as  many  suppose,  because  the  cable  was  defec- 
tive. It  is  true  that  there  was  a  fault  in  the  cable,  discovered  by 
Varley  before  it  left  Queenstown  ;  but  it  was  not  of  so  serious  a 
character  as  to  offer  any  substantial  obstacle  to  the  passage  of  the 
electric  current. 

The  only  instrument  which  could  be  used  successfully  in  sig- 
nalling through  the  Atlantic  Cable  was  one  of  peculiar  construc- 
tion, by  Professor  Thompson,  called  the  marine  galvanometer. 
In  this  instrument  momentum  and  inertia  are  almost  wholly 
avoided  by  the  use  of  a  needle  weighing  only  one  and  a  half 
grains,  combined  with  a  mirror  reflecting  a  ray  of  light,  which 
indicates  deflections  with  great  accuracy.  By  these  means  a 
gradually  increasing  or  decreasing  current  is  at  each  instant  indi- 
cated at  its  due  strength.  Thus,  when  this  galvanometer  is 
placed  as  the  receiving  instrument  at  the  end  of  a  long  subma- 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  225 

rine  cable,  the  movement  of  the  spot  of  light,  consequent  on  the 
completion  of  a  circuit  through  the  battery,  cable,  and  earth,  can 
be  so  observed  as  to  furnish  a  curve  representing  very  accurately 
the  arrival  of  an  electric  current.  Lines  representing  successive 
signals  at  various  speeds  can  also  be  obtained,  and,  by  means  of 
a  metronome,  dots,  dashes,  successive  A's,  etc.,  can  be  sent  with 
nearly  perfect  regularity  by  an  ordinary  Morse  key,  and  the  cor- 
responding changes  in  the  current  at  the  receiving  end  of  the 
cable  accurately  observed.  The  strength  of  the  battery  employed 
was  found  to  have  no  influence  on  the  results ;  curves  given  by 
batteries  of  different  strengths  could  be  made  to  coincide  by  simply 
drawing  them  to  scales  proportionate  to  the  strengths  of  the  two 
currents.  It  was  also  found,  that  the  same  curve  represented  the 
gradual  increase  of  intensity  due  to  the  arrival  of  a  current,  and 
the  gradual  decrease  due  to  the  ceasing  of  that  current. 

The  possible  speed  of  signalling  was  found  to  be  very  nearly 
proportional  to  the  squares  of  the  lengths  spoken  through.  Thus, 
a  speed  which  gave  fifteen  dots  per  minute  in  a  length  of  2,191 
nautical  miles  reproduced  all  the  effects  given  by  a  speed  of 
thirty  dots  in  a  length  of  1,500.  At  these  speeds,  with  ordinary 
Morse  signals,  speaking  would  be  barely  possible.  In  the  Red 
Sea,  a  speed  of  from  seven  to  eight  words  per  minute  was  at- 
tained in  a  length  of  750  nautical  miles.  Mechanical  senders, 
and  attention  to  the  proportion  of  the  various  contacts,  would 
materially  increase  the  speed  at  which  signals  of  any  kind  could 
be  transmitted.  The  best  trained  hand  cannot  equal  the  accuracy 
of  mechanism,  and  the  slightest  irregularity  causes  the  current  to 
rise  or  fall  quite  beyond  the  limits  required  for  distinct  signals. 
No  important  difference  was  observed  between  signals  sent  by 
alternate  reverse  currents  and  those  sent  by  the  more  usual 
method.  The  amount  of  oscillation,  and  the  consequent  distinct- 
ness of  signalling,  were  nearly  the  same  in  the  two  cases.  An 
advantage  in  the  first  signals  sent  is,  however,  obtained  by  the 
use  of  Messrs.  Siemens  and  Halske's  submarine  key,  by  which 
the  cable  is  put  to  earth  immediately  on  signalling  being  inter- 
rupted, and  the  wire  thus  kept  at  a  potential  half-way  between 
the  potentials  of  the  poles  of  two  counteracting  batteries  em 

o 


226  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

ployed,  and  the  first  signals  become  legible,  which,  with  the  ordi- 
nary key,  would  be  employed  in  charging  the  wire. 

A  system  of  arbitrary  characters,  similar  to  those  used  upon 
the  Morse  telegraph,  was  employed,  and  the  letter  to  be  indicated 
was  determined  by  the  number  of  oscillations  of  the  needle,  as 
well  as  by  the  length  of  time  during  which  the  needle  remained 
in  one  place.  The  operator,  who  watched  the  reflection  of  the 
deflected  needle  in  the  mirror,  had  a  key,  communicating  with  a 
local  instrument  in  the  office,  in  his  hand,  which  he  pressed  down 
or  raised,  as  the  needle  was  deflected ;  and  another  operator  occu- 
pied himself  in  deciphering  the  characters  thus  produced  upon 
the  paper.  As  the  operator  at  Trinity  Bay  had  no  means  of  ar- 
resting the  operations  at  Valentia,  and  vice  versa,  and  as  the 
fastest  rate  of  speed  over  the  cable  could  not  exceed  three  words 
per  minute,  it  will  not  surprise  the  reader  that  the  operators  were 
unable  to  accomplish  more  during  the  three  weeks  that  the  cable 
remained  in  operation.  Upon  our  land  lines  of  the  same  length, 
there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  in  transmitting  in  twelve 
hours  the  same  number  of  despatches  which  were  sent  through 
the  cable. 

In  Liverpool,  £  150,000  have  already  been  subscribed  to  the 
project  of  completing  or  relaying  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

A  contract  has  been  recently  made  by  the  English  government 
for  a  cable  to  be  laid  from  Falmouth  to  Gibraltar,  1,200  miles, 
which  is  to  be  ready  in  June  next.  This  will  be  succeeded  by 
one  from  Gibraltar  to  Malta  and  Alexandria,  thus  giving  Eng- 
land an  independent  line,  free  from  Continental  difficulties. 

Steamers  were  to  have  left  Liverpool  during  the  month  of  De- 
cember, 1859,  with  the  remainder  of  the  cable  to  connect  Kurra- 
chee  with  Aden.  The  cable  to  connect  Alexandria  with  England 
is  now  to  be  laid  through  the  islands  of  Rhodes  and  Scio  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  not  by  way  of  Candia,  as  previously  intended ;  it 
is  expected  to  be  laid  during  the  year  1860.  Hellaniyah,  one  of 
the  Kuria-Muria  Islands,  has  been  decided  on  as  a  station  for 
the  Red  Sea  Telegraph. 

The  new  electric  cable  between  Malta  and  the  opposite  coast 
of  Sicily  at  Alga  Grande  is  safely  laid.  Two  previous  attempts 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  227 

had  been  made  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  late  strong  winds? 
nothing  could  be  done.  The  shore-end  on  the  Malta  side  had 
been  laid  down  and  connected  with  the  company's  offices  before 
the  expedition  started  ;  the  outer  end,  about  one  mile  off  the 
Marsamuscetto  harbor,  into  which  the  cable  has  been  taken,  be- 
ing buoyed  ready  to  complete  the  communication  from  shore  to 
shore  the  moment  the  cable  was  submerged.  The  operation  of 
paying  out  the  cable  was  completed  without  the  least  accident. 
The  mid-portion  of  the  cable  is  of  great  strength,  being  able  to 
sustain  a  strain  of  ten  or  twelve  tons  without  parting,  and  the 
shore-ends  are  of  nearly  double  that  strength.  The  depth  of 
water  throughout  is  within  eighty  fathoms ;  so  that  if  any  acci- 
dent should  ever  occur,  it  may  be  remedied  without  much  diffi- 
culty. 

A  great  change  in  the  rates  to  Sicily  and  the  Italian  States 
will  result  from  the  completion  of  this  new  line,  a  reduc- 
tion in  some  cases  of  seventy-five  per  cent  being  made,  —  a 
great  boon  to  the  English  merchants.  Messages  in  French, 
English,  or  Italian  will  be  transmitted,  and  we  must  congratulate 
the  company  upon  their  success  in  inducing  the  Neapolitan  gov- 
ernment to  make  this  concession,  and  upon  the  exceedingly  low 
tariff  proposed. 

Mr.  De  Sauty  is  the  electrician  of  this  company.  He  will  be 
remembered  by  the  reader  as  the  mysterious  operator  at  Trinity 
Bay,  from  whom  an  occasional  vague  and  exceedingly  brief  de- 
spatch was  received  in  relation  to  the  working  of  the  cable. 
Nothing  really  satisfactory  could  ever  be  obtained,  and,  when 
visited  by  some  officers  connected  with  the  United  States  Coast 
Survey,  he  would  not  permit  them  to  enter  the  office  or  examine 
the  apparatus.  His  name  was  published  in  the  daily  journals 
with  several  different  varieties  of  spelling,  and  for  this  reason,  and 
in  consequence  of  his  extreme  reticence,  one  of  them  perpetrated 
the  following :  — 

"  Thou  operator,  silent,  glum. 

Why  wilt  thou  act  so  naughty  ? 
Do  tell  us  what  your  name  is,  —  come  : 
De  Santy,  or  De  Sauty  1 


228  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

"  Don't  think  to  humbug  any  more, 

Shut  up  there  in  your  shanty,  — 
But  solve  the  problem  once  for  all,  — 
De  Sauty,  or  De  Santy  ?  " 

Electric  telegraphy  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  has  within  a  few 
months  had  a  remarkable  development.  Several  lines  are  already 
in  course  of  construction.  A  direct  line  from  Varna  to  Toultcha, 
passing  by  Baltschik.  A  line  from  Toultcha  to  Odessa,  passing 
.by  Reni  and  joining  the  Russian  telegraph  at  Ismail.  The  sub- 
aqueous cable  from  Toultcha  to  Reni,  on  the  Danube,  is  the  sixth 
in  the  Ottoman  Empire.  This  line,  which  will  place  Constanti- 
nople in  direct  communication  with  Odessa,  will  not  only  have  the 
advantage  of  increasing  and  accelerating  the  communications,  but 
will  very  considerably  reduce  their  cost. 

There  is  also  to  be  a  line  from  Rodosto  to  Enos  and  Salonica ; 
and  from  Salonica  to  Monastir,  Valona,  and  Scutari  in  Albania. 
The  line  from  Salonica  to  Monastir  and  Valona  will  be  joined  by 
a  submarine  cable  crossing  the  Adriatic  to  Otranto,  and  carried 
on  to  Naples.  It  will  have  the  effect  of  placing  Southern  Italy 
in  communication  with  Constantinople,  and  also  of  reducing  the 
cost  of  messages.  A  convention  to  this  effect  has  been  signed  by 
a  delegate  of  the  Neapolitan  government  and  the  director-general 
of  the  telegraphic  lines  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  touching  this 
line  to  Naples.  The  ratification  of  the  two  governments  will 
shortly  be  given  to  this  convention. 

A  line  from  Scutari  in  Albania  to  Bar-Bournon,  and  thence  to 
Castellastua,  passing  round  the  Montenegrin  territory  by  a  sub- 
marine cable.  This  line  is  already  laid,  and  will  begin  working 
immediately  on  the  completion  of  the  Austrian  lines  to  the  point 
where  it  ends. 

A  line  from  Constantinople  to  Bagdad.  Three  sections  of  this 
are  being  simultaneously  laid  down.  The  first  from  Constanti- 
nople to  Ismid,  Angora,  Yuzgat,  and  Sivas :  the  works  on  this 
have  been  already  carried  to  Sabanja,  between  Ismid  and  Angora. 
The  second  section,  from  Sivas  to  Moussoul :  the  works  on  this 
line  are  in  a  state  of  favorable  preparation,  and  the  line  will  be 
actively  gone  on  with.  The  third  section,  from  Bagdad  to  Mous- 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  229 

soul :  for  this  also  the  preparations  have  been  made,  and  the 
works  will  begin  when  the  season  opens,  the  materials  being  all 
ready  along  the  line.  From  Bagdad  this  line  will  extend  to 
Bassora,  to  join  a  submarine  cable  to  be  carried  thence  to  British 
India. 

A  projected  line  from  Constantinople  to  Smyrna.  For  this, 
two  routes  are  thought  of:  one,  the  shortest,  but  most  difficult, 
would  run  from  Constantinople  to  the  Dardanelles,  Adramyti,  and 
Smyrna ;  the  other,  the  longest,  but  offering  fewest  difficulties, 
would  pass  from  Constantinople  by  Muhalitch,  Berlick-Hissar, 
and  Maneesa,  to  Smyrna, 

A  line  from  Mostar  to  Bosna-Serai.  Mostar  is  already  con- 
nected with  the  Austrian  telegraphs  at  Metcovich. 

Other  lines  have  been  in  the  mean  time  completed  and  ex- 
tended, and  will  soon  be  opened  to  the  public.  Thus,  a  third  and 
fourth  wire  are  being  laid  on  the  line  from  Constantinople  to 
Rodosto  ;  from  the  latter  point  three  wires  have  been  carried 
to  Gallipoli  and  the  Dardanelles,  two  of  which  are  for  messages 
from  Gallipoli  to  the  Dardanelles,  and  the  third  is  to  join  the 
submarine  cable  connecting  Constantinople,  Candia,  Syra,  and 
the  Piraeus. 

The  communications  between  Constantinople  and  Candia  would 
already  have  begun  but  for  an  accident  to  the  engineer.  Those 
with  Syra  and  the  Piraeus  will  begin  as  soon  as  the  ratification  of 
the  convention  entered  into  between  the  Ottoman  and  Greek  gov- 
ernments on  this  subject  shall  have  taken  place.  The  laying  of 
the  cable  between  Candia  and  Alexandria,  which  has  not  yet 
succeeded,  will  be  resumed  this  spring  (1860). 

Thus,  after  the  completion  of  these  lines,  Constantinople  will 
be  in  communication  with  nearly  all  the  chief  provinces  and 
towns  of  the  empire,  with  Africa,  and  with  Europe  by  five  differ- 
ent channels,  —  by  the  Principalities,  by  Odessa,  by  Servia,  by 
Dalmatia,  and  by  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  With  such  a 
development  of  the  system,  it  will  be  imperatively  necessary  to 
increase  the  telegraphic  working-staff.  Already  the  number  of 
despatches  arriving  every  day  renders  the  service  very  difficult, 
and  occasions  much  confusion  and  many  grievous  mistakes. 
20 


230  PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

Nothing  is  easier  than   to   remedy  all  this   by  increasing  the 
number  of  the  employes. 

It  will  be  observed  that  one  of  the  lines  from  Constanti- 
nople will  be  to  British  India,  through  Bagdad  and  Bassora. 
The  very  thought  of  a  telegraph  office  in  Bagdad  transports  one 
at  once  to  the  realms  of  fancy,  to  the  dreams  of  childhood,  when 
the  marvellous  stories  of  the  Arabian  Nights  were  veritable 
facts,  and  the  adventures  of  Sinbad  were  envied  or  deplored  ac- 
cording as  he  met  with  good  or  ill  fortune.  What  a  pity  it  is  that 
Haroun,  and  Giafar,  and  the  rest  of  those  immortals  who  in  the 
"  golden  time  "  lived,  and  loved,  and  hated,  and  murdered  in  those 
renowned  cities,  can't  have  a  day's  return  to  earth  to  see  some- 
thing that  would  have  astonished  even  the  magnificent  Alamon  ! 

The  great  distinguishing  feature  of  the  telegraphs  used  in  Great 
Britain  is,  that  they  are  of  the  class  known  as  oscillating  tele- 
graphs, —  that  is,  telegraphs  in  which  the  letters  are  denoted  by 
the  number  of  motions  to  the  right  or  left  of  a  needle  or  indicator. 
Those  of  France  are  of  the  class  called  dial  telegraphs,  in  which 
an  index  or  needle  is  carried  around  the  face  of  a  dial,  around 
the  circumference  of  which  are  placed  the  letters  of  the  alphabet ; 
any  particular  letter  being  designated  by  the  brief  stopping  of 
the  needle.  A  similar  system  has  been  used  in  Prussia ;  but, 
recently,  the  American,  or  recording  instrument  of  Professor 
Morse,  has  been  introduced  into  this,  as  well  as  every  other  Euro- 
pean country ;  and  even  in  England  the  national  prejudice  is 
gradually  giving  way,  and  our  American  system  is  being  intro- 
duced. 

In  America  none  but  recording  instruments  have  ever  been 
used.  Of  these  we  have  many  kinds,  but  only  five  are  in  opera- 
tion at  present,  viz. :  —  The  electro-magnetic  timing  instrument 
of  Professor  Morse  ;  the  electro-magnetic  step-by-step  printing  of 
Mr.  House  ;  the  electro-magnetic  synchronous  printing  of  Mr. 
Hughes  ;  the  electro-chemical  rhythmic  of  Mr.  Bain  ;  and  the 
combination-printing,  combining  the  essential  parts  of  the  Hughes 
instrument  with  portions  of  the  House.  The  Morse  apparatus 
is,  however,  mo^t  jrenerallv  used  in  this  country  and  every  other. 
Out  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  miles  of  electric  tele- 


PBOGRESS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  231 

graph  now  in  operation  or  in  the  course  of  construction  in  the 
world,  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  give  the  preference  to  it. 

Although  the  Morse  apparatus  is  a  recording  one,  yet  for  the 
last  six  years  the  operators  in  this  country  have  discontinued  the 
use  of  the  paper,  and  confined  themselves  to  reading  by  the  ear, 
which  they  do  with  the  greatest  facility.  By  this  means  a  great 
saving  is  made  in  the  expense  of  working  the  telegraph,  and  far 
greater  correctness  insured  ;  as  the  ear  is  found  much  more  reli- 
able in  comprehending  the  clicks  of  the  instrument,  than  the  eye 
in  deciphering  the  arbitrary  alphabet  of  dots  and  lines. 

The  rapidity  of  the  several  instruments  in  use  may  be  given 
as  follows  :  —  Cooke  and  Wheatstone's  needle  telegraph  of  Great 
Britain,  900  words  per  hour ;  Froment's  dial  telegraph,  of  France, 
1,200;  Breguet's  dial  telegraph,  also  French,  1,000;  Siemens's 
dial  telegraph,  formerly  used  upon  the  Prussian  lines,  900 ;  Bain's 
chemical,  in  use  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  and  formerly 
to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  United  States,  1,500 ;  the  Morse 
telegraph,  in  use  all  over  the  world,  1,500  ;  the  House  printing, 
used  in  the  United  States  to  a  limited  extent,  and  in  Cuba,  2,800; 
Hughes's  and  the  combination  instruments,  2,000.  The  last 
three  systems  are  American  inventions  :  thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
to  our  country  is  due  the  credit  of  inventing  the  most  rapid  and 
the  most  universally  used  telegraphic  systems. 

But  though  we  surpass  all  other  nations  in  the  value  of  our 
electric  apparatus,  we  are  far  behind  many,  and  indeed  most 
countries,  in  the  construction  of  our  lines.  This  does  not  arise 
from  want  of  knowledge  or  of  means,  but  from  the  custom  which 
obtains  to  a  great  extent  among  all  classes  and  professions  in 
this  country,  of  providing  something  which  will  answer  for  a  time, 
instead  of  securing  a  permanent  success. 

"  But  to  my  mind,  —  though  I  am  native  here, 
And  to  the  manner  born,  —  it  is  a  custom 
More  honored  in  the  breach  than  the  observance,"  — 

especially  in  building  lines  of  electric  telegraph,  where  the  best 
are  always  the  cheapest. 

When  Shakespeare  made  Puck  promise  to  "  put  a  girdle  round 
about  the  earth  in  forty  minutes,"  he  undoubtedly  supposed  he 


232  PROGRESS   OF   THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

would  thereby  accomplish  a  remarkable  feat ;  but  when  the  great 
Russo- American  line  via  Behring's  Strait  and  the  Amoor  is  com- 
pleted, and  the  Atlantic  Cable  is  again  in  operation,  we  can  put 
an  electric  girdle  round  about  the  earth  before  Puck  could  have 
time  to  spread  his  wings ! 

In  view  of  what  must  actually  take  place  at  no  distant  day,  — 
the  girdling  of  the  earth  by  the  electric  wires,  —  a  singular  ques- 
tion *  arises.  If  we  send  a  current  of  electricity  east,  it  will 
lose  twenty-four  hours  in  going  round  the  globe  ;  if  we  send  one 
west,  it  will  gain  twenty-four,  or,  in  other  words,  will  get  back  to 
the  starting-place  twenty-four  hours  before  it  sets  out.  Now,  if 
we  send  a  current  half-way  round  the  world,  it  will  get  there 
twelve  hours  in  advance  of,  or  twelve  hours  behind  our  time, 
according  as  we  send  it  east  or  west ;  the  question  which  natu- 
rally suggests  itself,  therefore,  is,  What  is  the  time  at  the  antipo- 
des ?  is  it  yesterday  or  to-morrow  ? 

Hark  !  the  warning  needles  click, 
Hither,  thither,  clear  and  quick ; 
Swinging  lightly  to  and  fro, 
Tidings  from  afar  they  show, 
While  the  patient  watcher  reads 
As  the  rapid  movement  leads. 
He  who  guides  their  speaking  play 
Stands  a  thousand  miles  away. 

Sing  who  will  of  Orphean  lyre, 

Ours  the  wonder-working  wire ! 

Eloquent,  though  all  unheard, 
Swiftly  speeds  the  secret  word, 
Light  or  dark,  or  foul  or  fair, 
Still  a  message  prompt  to  bear : 
None  can  read  it  on  the  way, 
None  its  unseen  transit  stay. 
Now  it  comes  in  sentence  brief, 
Now  it  tells  of  loss  and  grief, 
Now  of  sorrow,  now  of  mirth, 
Now  a  wedding,  now  a  birth, 
Now  of  cunning,  now  of  crime, 
Now  of  trade  in  wane  or  prime, 
Now  of  safe  or  sunken  ships, 
Now  the  murderer  outstrips, 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  233 

Now  it  warns  of  failing  breath, 
Strikes  or  stays  the  stroke  of  death. 

Sing  who  will  of  Orphean  lyre, 

Ours  the  wouder-working  wire ! 

Now  what  stirring  news  it  brings  !  — 
Plots  of  emperors  and  kings  ; 
Or  of  people  grown  to  strength, 
Rising  from  their  knees  at  length ;  — 
These  to  win  a  state,  or  school ; 
Those  for  flight,  or  stronger  rule. 
All  that  nations  dare  or  feel, 
All  that  serves  the  common  weal, 
All  that  tells  of  government, 
On  the  wondrous  impulse  sent, 
Marks  how  bold  Invention's  flight 
Makes  the  widest  realms  unite. 
It  can  fetters  break  or  bind, 
Foster  or  betray  the  mind, 
Urge  to  war,  incite  to  peace, 
Toil  impel,  or  bid  it  cease. 

Sing  who  will  of  Orphean  lyre, 

Ours  the  wonder-working  wire  ! 

Speak  the  word,  and  think  the  thought, 

Quick  't  is  as  with  lightning  caught, 

Over —  under  —  lands  or  seas, 

To  the  far  antipodes. 

Now  o'er  cities  thronged  with  men, 

Forest  now,  or  lonely  glen  ; 

Now  where  busy  commerce  broods, 

Now  in  wildest  solitudes  ; 

Now  where  Christian  temples  stand, 

Now  afar  in  Pagan  land ; 

Here  again  as  soon  as  gone, 

Making  all  the  earth  as  one. 

Moscow  speaks  at  twelve  o'clock, 

London  reads,  ere  noon,  the  shock ; 

Seems  it  not  a  feat  sublime  ? 

Intellect  hath  conquered-  Time  ! 

Sing  who  will  of  Orphean  lyre, 

Ours  the  wonder-working  wire  !  * 

*  Chambers's  Papers  for  the  People. 

20* 


PART    VI. 

VARIOUS   APPLICATIONS   OF   THE   ELECTRIC 
TELEGRAPH. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

USE  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  UPON  RAILWAYS. 

ONE  of  the  most  useful  applications  of  the  electric  telegraph 
is  in  connection  with  our  railroads.  No  railroad  should  be  with- 
out a  telegraph  line,  so  that  the  precise  situation  of  every  train 
on  the  road  is  known  at  the  Superintendent's  office,  and  at  all  the 
depots  on  the  line. 

On  some  English  railways,  the  movement  of  trains  is  entirely 
regulated  by  telegraphic  signals.  The  conditions  under  which 
trains  or  engines  are  allowed  to  move  are,  that  every  train  leav- 
ing or  passing  a  station  is  signalled  out  to  the  next  station,  and 
must  not  go  on  till  the  out  signal  is  taken.  Its  arrival  is  signalled 
back  to  the  last  station,  and  no  second  train  is  allowed  to  follow 
until  the  first  has  arrived ;  for  no  two  trains  are  permitted  to  be 
on  the  same  length  of  railway  between  two  signal  stations  at  the 
same  time.  A  train  is  considered  in  when  within  the  protection 
of  the  semaphore-signals  of  the  station,  and  the  telegraph  per- 
mission for  a  second  train  to  follow  refers  only  to  the  open  line, 
as  far  as  the  previous  train  is  concerned,  and  extends  only  to  the 
distant  signals  of  the  station.  On  approaching  the  station,  the 
train  is  subservient  to  the  visible  signals. 

The  Erie  Railroad  was  the  first  road  in  this  country  to  adopt 
the  telegraph  as  an  adjunct,  and  a  description  of  its  progress  is 
therefore  given.  The  telegraph  line  upon  the  New  York  and 


APPLICATIONS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  235 

Erie  Railway  was  originally  constructed  by  that  company  from 
Piermont  to  Dunkirk,  the  former  termini  of  their  road,  with  a 
single  wire,  which  was  devoted  exclusively  to  the  business  of  the 
road,  in  transmitting  communications  to  and  from  officers^  em- 
ployes, &c.  At  this  time,  and  for  nearly  a  year  after  its  con- 
struction, it  was  thought  impracticable  and  unsafe  to  have  recourse 
to  the  telegraph  for  the  moving  of  trains,  the  advantages  which 
have  since  been  realized  from  its  use,  as  adapted  to  railways,  not 
being  so  apparent  as  now. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Tillotson's  appointment  to  the  superintendence 
of  the  line,  in  1851,  it  occurred  to  him  that  an  immense  amount 
of  time  and  money  might  be  saved  to  the  company  by  making 
use  of  the  telegraph  for  expediting  the  movements  of  trains,  when 
out  of  time  and  held  by  trains  moving  in  an  opposite  direction, 
or  by  those  of  a  superior  class  in  the  same  direction. 

Upon  his  recommendation,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  division  of  the  railway  was  induced  to  try  the  experiment, 
the  result  of  which  was  that  a  system  was  at  once  adopted  by  the 
Superintendents  throughout  the  line,  aided  by  the  General  Su- 
perintendent, Charles  Minot,  Esq.,  which  has  been  so  far  per- 
fected that  the  engineers  and  conductors  now  actually  feel  safer 
and  more  secure  while  moving  under  telegraphic  orders  than 
when  following  their  printed  instructions ;  although,  at  the  time 
the  system  was  inaugurated,  it  was  not  a  little  amusing  to  the 
operators  to  witness  the  alarm  manifested  by  these  same  men  at 
this  innovation  upon  their  old-fogyish  views.  Indeed,  in  some 
instances,  so  great  was  their  prejudice,  that  they  sacrificed  their 
situations  rather  than  comply  with  telegraphic  orders. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  telegraphs  upon  railways  began  to 
be  appreciated ;  for  no  sooner  was  it  discovered  to  what  uses  it 
was  successfully  applied  upon  the  Erie  road,  than  all  the  princi- 
pal roads  throughout  the  country  were  supplied  with  lines ;  and 
now  a  railroad  of  any  length  without  a  telegraph  is  indeed  be- 
hind the  age. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  regard  in  which  it  is  held,  we  quote  an 
extract  from  the  General  Superintendent's  report  to  the  stock- 
holders, for  the  year  1855  :  — 


236  VAKIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 

"  The  use  of  the  telegraph  is  a  most  important  auxiliary  in 
working  the  road,  as,  by  the  rules  in  force,  trains  moving  in  one 
direction  possess  positive  rights  to  run  without  regard  to  time,  or 
without  reference  to  any  opposing  train ;  and  an  opposing  train 
upon  reaching  a  point  whence,  by  the  time-table,  it  should  be  met 
and  passed  by  a  train  having  the  right  to  the  road,  is  not  permit- 
ted to  leave  until  the  arrival  of  such  train  ;  but  by  the  use  of  the 
telegraph,  conductors  in  such  cases  may  be  immediately  commu- 
nicated with,  and  directed  to  move  forward,  without  the  slightest 
danger  of  collision. 

"Without  the  telegraph,  under  such  circumstances,  they  would 
be  obliged  to  remain  stationary,  or  proceed  slowly  at  the  most 
imminent  risk. 

"  A  single-track  railroad  may  be  rendered  more  safe  and  effi- 
cient by  a  proper  use  of  the  telegraph  than  a  double-track  railroad 
without  its  aid ;  as  the  double-track  can  only  obviate  collisions 
which  occur  between  trains  moving  in  opposite  directions,  while 
the  telegraph  may  be  used  effectually  in  preventing  them  either 
from  trains  moving  in  an  opposite  or  the  same  direction. 

"  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  a  single-track  railroad, 
having  judiciously  located  turn-outs,  equal  in  the  aggregate  to  one 
quarter  of  its  entire  length,  and  a  well-conducted  telegraph,  will 
prove  to  be  a  more  safe  and  profitable  investment  than  a  much 
larger  sum  expended  in  a  continuous  double-track,  operated  with- 
out a  telegraph. 

"  In  moving  trains  by  telegraph,  nothing  is  left  to  chance.  Or- 
ders are  communicated  to  the  conductors  and  engineers  of  the 
opposing  trains,  and  their  answers  returned,  giving  their  under- 
standing of  the  order,  before  either  is  allowed  to  proceed. 

"  It  would  occupy  too  much  space  to  allude  to  all  the  practical 
purposes  to  which  the  telegraph  is  applied  in  working  the  road, 
and  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  without  it  the  business  could  not  be 
conducted  with  anything  like  the  same  degree  of  economy,  safety, 
regularity,  or  despatch" 

Since  the  publication  of  the  report  from  which  the  foregoing  is 
an  extract,  the  telegraphic  facilities  have  been  very  much  in- 
creased. They  have  now  two  wires  running  the  entire  length  of 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  237 

the  road,  both  connecting  with  one  general  office  in  New  York. 
In  conjunction  with  the  American  Telegraph  Company,  they 
have  recently  laid  a  cable  from  New  York  City  to  Jersey  City, 
which  is  in  successful  operation. 

Both  of  the  wires  are  kept  almost  constantly  busy,  —  most  of 
the  time  in  transmitting  messages  for  the  road,  although  the  line 
is  now  open  to  the  public,  and  the  revenue  derived  from  paid 
messages  amounts  to  about  $  15,000  per  year.  The  expense  of 
operating  the  line  is  about  $  36,000  per  annum. 

The  length  of  each  wire  (upon  the  main  line)  is  four  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  miles.  Beside  this  they  have  the  Piermont  and 
Newburg  branches,  making  altogether  over  one  thousand  miles 
of  line. 

One  of  their  wires  is  divided  into  sections  to  correspond  with 
the  division  of  the  road;  the  business  of  each  division  being 
transacted  separately  from  the  others.  The  other  they  work  in 
one  circuit  between  New  York  and  Dunkirk,  four  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  miles. 

They  employ  about  one  hundred  operators,  seven  repairers, 
twelve  messenger-boys,  and  sixty -eight  offices,  —  seventeen  of 
which  are  kept  open  constantly,  both  day  and  night. 

They  use  the  Morse  apparatus ;  —  in  the  main  circuit  the  Grove 
battery,  and  for  locals  Daniell's  improved  zinc  and  copper. 

In  concluding  this  description  of  the  use  of  the  telegraph  upon 
one  of  the  best-managed  roads  in  this  country,  we  will  say,  what 
strict  justice  requires,  that  to  Charles  Minot,  Esq.  is  due  the 
credit  of  its  conception  and  completion,  in  the  face  of  great  oppo- 
sition on  the  part  of  other  officers  of  the  road,  the  accomplish- 
ment of  which  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit  to  both  the  rail- 
road and  the  public  generally. 

THE  ELECTRIC  FIRE-ALARM. 

Among  the  most  important  uses  of  the  Electric  Telegraph  is 
that  of  the  Telegraphic  Fire- Alarm,  originated  by  Dr.  William 
F.  Channing  and  Moses  G.  Farmer,  for  the  city  of  Boston,  in 
1852. 


238 


VARIOUS   APPLICATIONS   OF 


From  the  central  station  at  the  City  Hall,  wires  extend  to 
every  part  of  the  city.  These  wires  are  called  signal-circuits, 
and  are  five  in  number :  by  means  of  which  the  existence  of  a 
fire  is  signalized  from  any  part  of  the  surface  of  the  city  to  the 
centre.  In  connection  with  these  circuits  are  fifty  signal-boxes, 
attached  to  buildings  at  convenient  distances.  They  are  of  cast- 
iron  and  cottage-shaped  (Fig.  75).  On  the  door  of  each  sig- 


TURN  THE  CRANK 
SIXTIMES.SLOWLY. 


Fig.  75. 

nal-box,  the  number  of  the  fire  district,  and  also  the  number  of 
the  box  or  station  itself,  in  its  district,  are  marked ;  and  the  place 
in  the  neighborhood  where  the  key-holder  may  be  found  is  also 
prominently  notified.  On  opening  the  door  of  the  signal-box,  a 
crank  is  seen.  Connected  with  this  crank  are  the  two  signal- 
wires  which  extend  to  the  central  office,  and  by  turning  this  it 
communicates  to  the  centre  the  number  of  the  fire  district  and  of 
the  box,  and  nothing  else.  Repeated  turns  give  a  repetition  of 
the  same  signal.  By  this  means  a  correct  signal  will  be  given 
by  turning  the  crank,  however  stupid  may  be  the  signalizer. 

At  the  central  office,  alarm-bells  are  connected  with  the  signal- 
circuits,  and  also  a  register  which   records  the  alarm  received 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  239 

from  the  signal-box.  The  battery  which  supplies  the  signal-cir- 
cuits is  placed  at  the  central  station.  If  a  fire  occurs  near  Signal- 
box  or  Station  5,  in  District  3,  and  the  crank  of  that  box  is  turned, 
the  operator  at  the  central  station  is  instantly  notifiec(  by  the 
alarm-bell,  and  reads  at  once  on  his  register  the  telegraphic  char- 
acters which  signify  District  3,  Station  5. 

The  characters  used  in  the  fire  telegraph  are  dots  to  indicate 
the  district  number,  and  dots  and  lines  for  the  station  number. 

The  following  is  the  combination :  — 

Districts.  Stations. 

1  -  1      — 

2  -  -  2 

3 3 

4 4 

5 5 

6 6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

Thus  a  dot,  and  a  dot  and  line,  would  indicate  District  1,  Station 
2 ;  these  alternate  on  the  record,  and  are  repeated  as  often  as  the 
crank  is  turned. 

The  apparatus  used  for  recording  at  the  central  station  is  a 
modification  of  the  Morse,  and  the  alphabet  for  general  use  is 
the  combination  adopted  by  Bain. 

Having  described  the  mode  of  communicating  the  alarm  to  the 
central  office,  let  us  see  how  the  alarm  is  given  from  that  centre 
to  the  public.  From  the  central  station  extend  five  circuits  of 
wires,  called  alarm-circuits,  which  go  to  the  various  fire-bells 
throughout  the  city,  and  which  are  connected  with  striking  ma- 
chines similar  in  character  to  the  striking  machinery  of  a  clock, 
but  liberated  by  telegraph.  The  operator  at  the  central  station  is 
enabled,  by  simply  moving  the  pointer  upon  the  dial  of  a  clock 
placed  in  connection  with  the  several  alarm  circuits,  to  throw  all 
the  striking  machines  into  simultaneous  action,  and  thus  give  in- 
stantaneous public  alarm. 


240 


VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 


The  heavy  hammers  which  are  used  to  sound  the  alarm  upon 
the  bells  are  run  by  weights,  which  in  several  instances  are 
wound  up  by  the  force  of  the  water  compressed  in  the  mains. 
By  means  of  the  eccentric  water-engine,  known  familiarly  under 
the  name  of  the  "  water-meter,"  the  power  necessary  to  wield  the 
heavy  hammers  with  the  greatest  facility  is  obtained.  But  how 
are  hammers  of  one  or  two  hundred  pounds'  weight  to  be  tripped 
by  telegraph  ?  To  effect  this  readily,  Mr.  Farmer  invented  his 
electro-magnetic  escapement,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  origi- 
nal of  recent  mechanical  applications.  In  this  escapement,  the 
electro-magnet,  when  it  becomes  charged  by  the  galvanic  influ- 
ence received  from  the  central  station,  attracts  the  little  piece  of 
soft  iron  or  armature  in  front  of  it,  which  supports  a  small  lever 
poised  nearly  vertically,  and  weighted  with  a  little  ball  at  its 
upper  end.  This  lever  and  ball,  when  tripped  by  the  withdrawal 
of  the  armature,  acquires  sufficient  momentum  to  strike  up  the 
detent  of  the  train  of  wheels  which,  in  their  revolution,  raise  the 
hammer,  and  then  allow  it  to  fall.  A  single  blow  of  the  hammer 
follows  each  electrical  impulse  sent  from  the  central  station,  and 
the  revolution  of  the  train  of  wheels  raises  also  the  falling  lever 
into  its  place,  and  catches  it  again  on  the  armature  lever,  ready 
to  be  disengaged  or  tripped  for  another  blow. 

At  the  central  station,  connected  with  the  alarm  circuit,  is  a 
magneto-electric  machine,  which  furnishes  all  the  power  neces- 
sary to  work  the  apparatus  of  the  alarm-circuits. 

The  Cochituate  water  is  used  as  a  motive  power  to  carry  the 
magneto-electric  machine.  This  arrangement  saves  the  expense 


Fig.  76. 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  241 

and  inconvenience  of  maintaining  a  large  quantity  battery  to  work 
the  alarm-circuits. 

An  ingenious  arrangement  of  a  cylinder  (Fig.  76)  carried  by 
clock-work,  upon  the  circumference  of  which  are  metal  plates 
connected  with  the  several  alarm-circuits,  enables  the  operator, 
by  placing  the  pointer  of  the  clock  upon  any  number  upon  the 
dial,  to  set  the  machinery  in  motion,  so  as  to  complete  the  circuit 
at  such  intervals  as  to  strike  and  repeat  on  the  distant  alarm- 
bells  the  district  number  represented  by  that  number,  with  suit- 
able pauses  between. 

We  will  suppose  the  operator  at  the  central  station  receives 
the  signal  of  fire  from  District  3,  Station  5.  He  now  places  the 
pointer  upon  the  dial  upon  the  figure  3,  and  instantly  all  the 
alarm-bells  in  the  city  begin  to  strike  synchronously  the  district 
number  3,  and  continue  to  do  it,  no  matter  what  their  number  or 
what  the  weight  of  their  hammer,  so  long  as  that  pointer  remains 
upon  that  number  upon  the  dial. 

The  operator  has  also  a  key  before  him  connected  with  the 
signal-circuits,  by  which  he  can  answer  back,  and  strike  a  little 
bell  through  the  action  of  an  electro-magnet  armature,  en- 
closed in  each  signal-box.  He  has  received  a  signal  of  fire  from 
District  3,  Station  5.  While  the  pointer  rests  upon  number  3 
upon  the  dial,  he  taps  occasionally  five  times  on  the  keys  of  the 
signal-circuits,  which  we  have  just  described.  The  little  bell  in 
each  signal-box,  at  the  corner  of  every  square,  strikes  five.  The 
fireman  listens  to  the  public  alarm-bells,  and  gets  from  them  the 
number  of  the  district ;  he  runs  by  the  nearest  signal-box,  and 
listens  a  moment  to  gather  the  station  number  from  its  little  sig- 
nal-bell, and  he  now  knows  that  the  fire  is  at  District  3,  Station  5. 
He  directs  his  own  motion  and  his  engine,  from  the  start,  to  with- 
in perhaps  one  hundred  yards  of  the  fire. 

No  other  system  has  ever  attempted  to  localize  a  fire  more 
precisely  than  by  the  district  number ;  and  in  some  cities,  like 
New  York,  the  districts  may  be  two  miles  long. 

In  all  previous  systems  there  has  been  a  delay,  first,  in  getting 
an  alarm  from  the  fire  to  the  bells ;  and,  second,  in  finding  the 
place  of  the  fire  in  the  district  after  the  alarm  was  given,  and 
21  P 


242  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 

reaching  it  by  the  shortest  route.  By  the  Boston  fire-alarm  tele- 
graph, both  district  and  station  are  publicly  notified,  —  the  one  by 
the  alarm-bells,  the  other  by  the  signal-boxes. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  analogy  between  the  municipal  or- 
ganization thus  described,  and  the  nervous  organization  of  the 
individual.  A  coal  of  fire  falls  upon  your  hand;  one  of  the 
nervous  extremities,  or  papillae,  the  signal-box  of  the  part,  sends 
instantly  its  own  special  signal,  by  means  of  a  nerve  of  sensa- 
tion, or  signal-wire,  to  the  brain,  where  the  existence  and  locality 
of  the  lesion  is  at  once  recognized.  An  act  of  intelligence  and 
volition  ensues.  The  watchman  of  the  central  station,  or  brain, 
does  his  part.  An  impulse  to  motion  is  sent  out  over  the  proper 
motor  nerves,  or  alarm-wires,  and  muscles  are  called  into  play 
in  a  suitable  manner  to  remove  the  cause  of  injury,  just  as  the 
electro-magnetic  muscles  and  iron  limbs  in  the  bell-towers  are 
thrown  into  suitable  and  related  action  to  the  original  cause  and 
plan  of  alarm. 

The  telegraph,  in  its  common  form,  communicating  intelligence 
between  distant  places,  performs  the  function  of  the  sensitive 
nerves  of  the  human  body.  In  the  fire  telegraph  it  is  made  to 
act  for  the  first  time  in  its  motor  function,  or  to  produce  effects 
of  power  at  a  distance ;  and  this  is  also  connected  with  the  sen- 
sitive function,  through  a  brain  or  central  station,  which  is  the 
reservoir  of  electric  or  nervous  power  for  the  whole  system.  We 
have  thus  an  excito-motory  system,  in  which  the  intelligence  and 
volition  of  the  operator  at  the  central  station  come  in  to  connect 
sensitive  and  motor  functions,  as  they  would  in  the  case  of  the 
individual. 

The  conditions  of  municipal  organization  absolutely  compelled 
the  relation  of  circuits  which  has  been  described.  The  analogy 
with  the  laws  of  individual  life  was  not  perceived  until  after  the 
system  was  evolved,  and  it  came  then  as  a  confirmation  of  the 
correspondence  of  the  system  to  natural  law,  and  of  the  necessity 
of  the  arrangement  as  a  means  of  order. 

In  Boston,  where  the  fire-alarm  telegraph  has  been  in  success- 
ful operation  for  nearly  eight  years,  a  star  of  wires  is  seen  radi- 
ating from  the  top  of  the  City  Hall.  These  are  the  signal 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  243 

circuits,  connecting  into  one  system  fifty  signal-boxes  scattered 
over  the  city,  and  the  alarm  circuits  connecting  twenty-three  bel- 
fries on  church,  school,  and  engine-houses.  A  few  large  bells 
would  be  preferable  to  this  multiplicity  of  smaller  ones,  but  this 
whole  number  are  struck  by  means  of  the  clock  movement  in  the 
central  station.  For  the  sake  of  economy  in  battery  power,  the 
cylinder  is  so  arranged  as  to  throw  the  current  from  the  mag- 
neto-electric machine  in  the  four  alarm  circuits  separately,  but  in 
rapid  succession  at  each  blow.  Practically,  the  bells  strike  to- 
gether, or  as  much  so  as  is  desirable.  At  night,  sometimes  out 
of  the  profoundest  stillness,  the  district  number  will  suddenly  strike 
upon  the  ear  in  a  chime  of  perhaps  eight  or  ten  bells,  their  sound 
coming  in  one  after  the  other  in  proportion  to  their  distance  from 
the  ear,  but  always  in  an  invariable  succession  at  each  blow. 
Then  the  alarm  ceases,  and  the  whole  city  is  as  suddenly  silent. 

The  operator  at  the  central  station  is  sometimes  able  to  throw 
the  bells  on,  and  tap  back  to  the  signal-boxes  before  the  origina- 
tor of  the  alarm  has  ceased  to  turn  his  crank  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  fire.  As  soon  as  the  bells  strike,  groups  of 
persons  will  be  seen  clustering  around  each  signal-box  to  listen 
to  the  tapping  of  the  station  number,  and  it  is  soon  known  to  the 
whole  fire  department  exactly  where  the  alarm  originated. 

The  battery  employed  on  the  Boston  signal  circuits  is  Daniell's 
(sulphate  of  copper),  which  keeps  in  action  several  months  by 
the  addition  each  week  of  a  few  crystals  of  the  sulphate  of  cop- 
per. Instead  of  a  galvanic  battery  on  the  alarm  circuits,  a  large 
magneto-electric  machine  has  been  substituted,  similar  in  principle 
to  those  described  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  work. 

The  heaviest  hammer  in  the  system  at  Boston  weighs  one  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  is  wielded  by  the  Cochituate  water  at  an  expense 
of  only  one  gallon  for  each  blow,  and  tripped  by  telegraph  from 
a  distance  of  two  miles.  By  virtue  of  the  electric  current  and 
the  pent-up  water,  this  bell,  and  others  associated  with  it,  might 
be  rung  in  measured  strokes  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
year  by  the  pressure  of  a  finger  upon  a  telegraph-key  a  hundred 
or  a  thousand  miles  distant.  The  bells  were  rung,  not  long  since, 
from  Portland,  and  the  Superintendent  of  the  Fire-Alarm,  Mr. 


244  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 

J.  B.  Stearns,  had  made  arrangements  to  have  them  rung  by 
telegraph  from  London  just  as  the  Atlantic  cable  ceased  to 
work. 

All  the  stations  in  Boston  are  provided  with  lightning-arrest- 
ers, or  ground-conductors  for  atmospheric  or  induced  electricity. 
Hence  an  incidental  protection  from  lightning,  commensurate 
with  the  extent  of  the  network  of  wires  above,  is  attained  for  the 
city.  When  these  ground-conductors  have  been  temporarily  re- 
moved from  the  alarm-bell  stations,  a  flash  of  lightning  has  been 
occasionally  followed  by  a  single  blow  from  one  or  more  of  the 
bells.  But  where  the  lightning-arresters  have  been  in  place,  they 
have  proved  sufficient,  except  in  rare  instances,  to  direct  atmos- 
pheric or  induced  currents  from  the  electro-magnets  to  the  ground. 
No  practical  or  serious  inconvenience  has  resulted  from  this 
source.  But  it  has  occasionally  been  a  matter  of  curiosity  and 
interest  to  hear  the  lightning  thus  tolling  the  alarm-bell. 

The  whole  number  of  alarms  and  the  proportion  of  false 
alarms  have  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  system.  Science 
can  make  no  contribution  to  civilization  without  the  requisite 
social  conditions.  The  trust  of  the  fire-telegraph  system,  in  this 
case,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  citizens,  and  it  has  yielded 
to  them  its  fruits  without  abuse.  This  may  deserve,  perhaps,  to 
be  chronicled  as  an  instance  of  well-rewarded  confidence  in  the 
sobriety  and  capacity  for  self-government  of  the  American  people. 
The  signal-boxes,  which  are  the  sensitive  extremities  of  the  sys- 
tem, may  be  protected  by  various  methods,  according  to  social 
requirements.  In  Boston,  it  has  been  guarded  best  by  putting  it 
in  the  most  public  place  and  exposing  it  to  the  fullest  light. 

The  mechanism  of  the  fire  telegraph  is  arranged  and  disposed 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  wealth,  the  fruit  of  human  in- 
dustry and  Nature's  bounty,  from  destruction.  It  therefore  ac- 
complishes an  end  of  human  use.  But  more  than  this,  —  it  is  a 
higher  system  of  municipal  organization  than  any  which  has  here- 
tofore been  proposed  or  adopted.  In  it  the  New  World  has 
taken  a  step  in  the  forms  of  civilization  in  advance  of  the  Old. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  by  which  uniform  time  is  given 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  every  day  at  noon  by  means  of  the 


THE  ELECTKIC   TELEGRAPH.  245 

fire-alarm  telegraph.  An  exact  chronometer  is  placed  in  the 
circuit,  which  sends  an  electric  current  every  day,  at  precisely 
twelve  o'clock,  and  causes  the  hammer  attached  to  the  bell  upon 
the  Old  South  to  strike  one  blow.  This  gives  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  an  opportunity  to  regulate  their  time  by  a  correct  stand- 
ard, and  is  a  great  advance  upon  the  London  system,  which  only 
drops  a  ball  from  a  pole  erected  in  the  Strand,  the  telegraph  wires 
being  connected  with  the  Royal  Observatory.  It  is  also  much 
better  than  the  Paris  method  of  firing  a  cannon,  which  is  touched 
off  by  telegraph.  In  the  London  plan,  the  few  persons  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Strand  only  are  benefited  ;  and  at  Paris,  the 
man  who  is  half  a  mile  distant  loses  several  seconds,  unless  he 
makes  allowance  for  the  speed  of  sound  ;  but  in  the  Boston  plan 
the  whole  city  can  be  tolled  the  time  to  the  fraction  of  a  second. 
The  public  appreciate  the  system,  and  we  shall  doubtless  soon 
witness  the  incongruity  of  people  taking  time  from  steeples  that 
have  no  clocks  in  them. 

The  following  interesting  tables,  showing  the  number  of  alarms 
which  have  occurred  each  hour,  day,  week,  month,  and  year  since 
the  fire-alarm  telegraph  was  established,  in  April,  1852,  to  Jan- 
uary 1, 1860,  have  been  computed  by  J.  B.  Stearns,  Esq.,  Super- 
intendent of  the  Boston  Telegraphic  Fire- Alarm. 

Table  I.  shows  the  number  of  alarms  in  each  hour  during  the 
twenty-four  hours  of  the  day  in  each  year  from  1852  to  1860, 
and  the  totals  for  the  eight  years,  together  with  the  number  of 
blows  struck  upon  the  bells  during  the  same  period. 

Table  II.  shows  the  number  of  alarms  during  each  month  of 
each  year,  and  the  totals  for  the  eight  years. 

Table  III.  shows  the  number  of  alarms  during  each  day  of  the 
week  for  each  year,  and  the  totals  for  the  past  eight  years. 


21* 


246 


VARIOUS   APPLICATIONS   OF 


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THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


247 


TABLE    II.  — MONTHS. 


Months. 

1852. 

1853.1  1854. 

1855.  \  1856. 

1857.  1858. 

1859. 

Total. 

January, 

10 

15 

8 

16 

15 

11 

9 

84 

February, 

29 

20 

13 

10 

14 

10 

11 

107 

March, 

- 

12 

19 

12 

19 

13 

15 

13 

103 

April, 

1 

21 

10 

13 

29 

11 

10 

11 

106 

May, 

21 

25 

12 

10 

12 

15 

21 

12 

128 

June, 

5 

25 

20 

16 

9 

15 

13 

11 

114 

July, 

18 

10 

16 

13 

16 

17 

9 

20 

119 

August, 

8 

11 

15 

12 

10 

16 

7 

23 

102 

September, 

9 

12 

13 

15 

14 

11 

11 

10 

95 

October, 

15 

17 

14 

7 

9 

22 

14 

21 

119 

November, 

16 

11 

15 

13 

9 

11 

15 

11 

101 

December, 

19 

14 

17 

12 

15 

14 

15 

20 

126 

Total, 

112 

197 

186 

144 

168 

174    151    172 

1,304 

TABLE    III.  —  DAYS  OF  THE  WEEK. 


1852. 

1853. 

1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

1859. 

Total. 

Sunday, 

16 

30 

27 

12 

22 

20 

23 

29 

179 

Monday, 

19 

26 

20 

17 

20 

19 

27 

33 

181 

Tuesday, 

16 

37 

31 

24 

26 

31 

30 

20 

215 

Wednesday, 

16 

18 

31 

26 

27 

29 

16 

19 

182 

Thursday, 

19 

27 

24 

18 

27 

27 

15 

16 

173 

Friday, 

11 

23 

26 

20 

27 

24 

16 

23 

170 

Saturday, 

15 

36 

27 

27 

19 

24 

24 

32 

204 

Total, 

112 

197 

186 

144 

168 

174 

151 

172 

1,304 

The  diagram.  (Fig.  77)  is  intended  to  exhibit  the  results  of  the 
past  eight  years'  experience  with  the  fire-alarm  apparatus,  show- 
ing in  what  hours  of  the  day  and  night  fires  are  most  or  least 
likely  to  occur.  The  diagram  covers  the  twenty-four  hours  of 
the  day,  and  is  divided  by  the  dotted  lines  into  the  forenoon  and 
afternoon,  and  also  into  the  portions  between  six  o'clock  A.  M. 
and  six  P.  M.,  and  six  o'clock  P.  M.  and  six  o'clock  A.  M. 


248  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS  OF 

The  outer,  inner,  and  middle  circles  represent  respectively  the 
maximum,  minimum,  and  medium  periods  of  alarms. 


Fig.  77. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  maximum  of  alarms  occurs  be- 
tween eight  and  nine  P.  M.,  the  minimum  at  six  o'clock  A.  M., 
and  the  medium  at  precisely  six  o'clock  P.  M. 

The  larger  number  of  fires  occur  between  six  o'clock  P.  M. 
and  six  o'clock  A.  M. ;  in  fact,  the  angles  in  the  other  twelve 
hours  of  the  day  reach  even  the  medium  circle  but  twice, — 
between  two  and  three,  and  five  and  six,  —  and  do  not  extend 
above  it  in  a  single  instance  ;  while  in  the  former  part  the  angles 
do  not  drop  below  the  medium  circle  until  nearly  four  o'clock 
A.  M. 

Of  the  days  of  the  week,  the  larger  number  of  alarms  occur 
on  Tuesdays,  and  the  next  in  number  on  Saturdays.  This  may 
be  accounted  for  from  the  fact  that  Saturday  is  baking-day,  and 
Tuesday  is  generally  appropriated  to  ironing,  —  both  requiring 
more  intense  fires  than  upon  other  days,  excepting,  perhaps  Mon- 
day, washing-day,  when  there  is  always  plenty  of  water  for  sub- 
duing any  fires  which  may  occur. 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  249,' 

SJ^?JJ[R^_    ; 

EMPLOYMENT   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH  IN  SCIENTIFIC 
AND  ASTRONOMICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 

IN  I  V  .n<  ti  J>1  i 

The  various  processes  and  apparatus  that  we  have  been  describ- 
ing have  been  devised  with  a  view  especially  to  the  services  which 
the  telegraph  may  render  to  social  relations.  However,  science, 
and  more  particularly  astronomy,  has  found  it  a  valuable  auxiliary 
for  certain  observations  which  require  simultaneity  of  operations 
in  very  distant  places,  or  an  immediate  communication  between 
two  very  distant  points.  Thus  it  is  that,  by  means  of  the  electric 
telegraph,  we  are  able  to  know  at  the  same  instant  the  state  of 
the  atmosphere  on  several  points  of  the  terrestrial  globe,  —  valu- 
able data  for  meteorology.  Thus  also  are  we  enabled  to  trans- 
mit the  announcement  of  a  hurricane  in  the  direction  according 
to  which  it  is  propagating  itself,  so  as  to  give  time  to  those  who 
run  the  risk  of  suffering  by  it  to  take  the  necessary  precautions.' 
Many  of  the  steamboat  companies  are  thus  saved  many  thousands 
of  dollars,  in  this  country  alone,  by  the  timely  notice  of  ap- 
proaching storms.  But,  as  we  have  said,  it  is  astronomy  that 
has  especially  derived  advantage  from  this  instantaneous  mode 
of  communication. 

Mr.  Airy,  Director  of  the  Royal  Observatory  at  Greenwich,* 
has  devoted  his  attention  continuously,  and  with  the  greatest  suc-> 
cess,  to  this  application  of  the  electric  telegraph,  seconded  by  the- 
co-operation  of  M.  Quetelet  and  M.  Leverrier.'  He  has  estab- 
lished at  Greenwich  a  complete  system  of  voltaic  batteries,  al-^ 
ways  charged  and  ready  to  enter  into  action,  each  having  its' 
special  destination,  and  composed  of  a  greater  or  less  number  of 
pairs  according  to  their  destination.  From  each  of  these  bat* 
teries  are  led  copper  conductors,  covered  with  gutta-percha,> 
which  extend  into  an  apartment,  whence,  by  means  of  commuta- 
tors and  other  suitable  apparatus,  the  current  receives  the  desired; 
direction.  Thus,  one  of  the  conductors  causes  an  astronomical 
clock  to  move  ;  another  serves  to  write  down  the  passage  of  the 
stars,  by  means  of  dots,  traced  by  a  system  analogous  to  Morse's,' 
upon  a  paper  fixed  round  a  cylinder  to  which  a  helicoidal  motion 
is  imparted,  and  upon  which  is  traced  beforehand  >a  spiral  line  ta 


250  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 

serve  as  a  base  line.  This  instrument  was  devised  by  Professor 
Bond,  of  Harvard  University,  and  is  used  for  the  same  purpose 
in  several  Observatories  in  the  United  States.  Another  current 
is  used  for  transmitting,  by  means  of  the  telegraphic  wire,  Green- 
wich mean  time  to  the  different  telegraphic  stations  in  England, 
and  especially  to  show  the  hour  of  one  P.  M.  in  London  and  at 
Deal  at  the  very  moment  of  one  P.  M.  at  Greenwich,  by  the  drop- 
ping of  balls  placed  in  elevated  situations,  visible  afar  off.  There 
exist  also  a  considerable  number  of  other  applications  to  astro- 
nomical wants,  of  an  analogous  nature,  devised  by  Mr.  Airy.  We 
could  not  point  them  all  out  without  exceeding  the  limits  within 
which  we  are  compelled  to  confine  ourselves ;  besides,  they  are 
based  upon  the  same  principles  as  those  which  have  occupied  our 
attention  for  so  long  a  time,  and  differ  from  them  only  in  certain 
mechanical  details  in  the  construction  of  the  apparatus,  which  are 
easy  of  comprehension.  In  1852  the  wires  were  established  for 
the  purpose  of  connecting  the  Greenwich  Observatory  with  the 
principal  telegraphic  offices  in  London  ;  and  through  them,  first, 
in  1853,  with  the  Observatories  of  Cambridge  and  Edinburgh, 
and  subsequently  with  those  of  the  Continent,  both  that  of  Brus- 
sels and  that  of  Paris.  We  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  preliminary 
details  relative  to  the  determination  of  the  correction  of  the  clocks, 
or  to  the  manner  of  closing  the  circuits,  which  must  be  done  by 
different  persons  from  those  charged  with  observing  the  signals. 

The  first  important  determination  to  be  obtained  was  that  rela- 
tive to  the  comparison  of  the  hours  of  the  electric  signals,  observed 
at  Brussels  and  at  Greenwich,  which  were  not  accompanied  by 
observations  of  the  transit  of  stars.  Another  point  essential  to 
know,  but  of  a  purely  astronomical  nature,  was  the  determination 
of  the  elements  necessary  for  calculating  the  errors  of  the  transit 
instrument,  and  the  clock  errors  for  the  days  during  which  the 
observations  of  the  difference  of  longitude  were  made. 

These  precautions  being  taken,  two  methods  were  followed  for 
arriving  at  the  determination  of  this  difference.  In  one,  the  tran- 
sits of  fundamental  stars  were  employed ;  it  was  not  necessary 
that  the  stars  observed  should  be  the  same  in  both  observatories. 
In  the  second  method  two  lists  of  stars  were  prepared,  the  one 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  251 

preceding,  the  other  following  the  signals.  Before  employing 
them  for  correcting  the  clock,  the  lists  of  the  stars  observed  in 
the  two  observatories  were  compared,  and  all  those  rejected  which 
had  been  observed  in  one  observatory  only.  With  regard  to 
clock  errors,  they  were  obtained  by  comparing  the  transits  cor- 
rected with  the  calculated  positions  of  the  stars ;  and  these  errors, 
duly  reduced  to  the  time  of  each  signal  of  observation,  were  ap- 
plied to  the  times  given  by  the  clock  for  the  signals.  The  dif- 
ference of  these  times  for  the  two  observatories  gives  the  apparent 
difference  of  longitude ;  that  is  to  say,  the  comparison  of  the  si- 
dereal times  of  the  telegraph  signals  observed  at  Brussels  and  at 
Greenwich.  In  order  to  obtain  the  real  difference  of  longitude,  it 
is  necessary  to  take  the  mean  of  the  separate  results,  that  are  ob- 
tained in  equal  numbers,  by  making  a  similar  number  of  Green- 
wich observations  at  Brussels,  and  reciprocally  of  Brussels  obser-. 
vations  at  Greenwich.  In  order  to  eliminate  the  influence  of  the 
time  employed  by  the  current  for  passing  over  the  distance  by 
which  the  two  observatories  are  separated,  the  following  steps 
were  taken.  The  signals  given  by  the  Greenwich  battery  to 
Brussels  give  the  excess  of  the  indication  of  the  Brussels  above 
the  Greenwich  clock,  increased  by  the  time  of  transmission.  Sig- 
nals given  by  the  Brussels  battery  to  Greenwich  give  the  excess 
of  the  indication  of  the  Brussels  clock,  diminished  by  the  time  of 
transmission.  By  noting  the  results  of  the  signals  given  by  each 
station  in  turn,  and  letting  -(-a:  in  the  one  case  and  — x  in  the 
other  represent  the  time  of  transmission,  and  by  interpolating  the 
equations  so  as  to  correct  any  error  in  the  rate  of  the  clocks,  the 
Astronomer  Royal  obtained,  as  the  final  result  for  the  time  em- 
ployed by  the  current  for  traversing  the  distance  by  which  the  two 
observatories  are  separated,  0".109;  —  a  value  which  depends 
upon  2,616  observations.  This  duration,  which,  if  the  velocity 
were  uniform,  would  lead  to  a  velocity  of  2,500  English  miles 
per  second,  since  the  telegraphic  distance  between  Greenwich 
and  Brussels  is  270  miles,  would  be  very  great  compared  with 
that  obtained  by  other  methods. 

But  we  should  observe  that  from  Greenwich  to  London,  and 
from  London  to  Ostend,  the  telegraphic  line  is  situated  entirely 


252  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS  OF 

under  ground  or  under  water,  which,  as  we  have  seen  from  the 
experiments  in  connection  with  electric  cables,  occasions  a  consid- 
erable retardation  in  the  rapidity  with  which  electricity  is  propa- 
gated at  the  first  moment  when  the  circuit  is  closed.  It  is  there- 
fore very  probable  that  the  retardation  observed  is  almost  entirely 
due  to  the  part  of  the  line  that  passes  under  ground  or  under  the 
water ;  and  that  the  retardation  from  Ostend  to  Brussels,  a  route 
along  which  the  wires  are  in  the  air,  is  insensible  in  practice. 

With  regard  to  the  difference  of  longitude  between  Greenwich 
and  Brussels,  the  means  of  1,104  signals  give  the  final  result  of 
17'  28".9 ;  this  is  the  best  that  under  present  circumstances  can 
be  obtained  for  the  determination  of  the  element  in  question ;  it 
is,  moreover,  identically  the  same,  according  to  the  remark  of  M. 
Quetelet,  as  that  which  is  furnished  by  the  observation  of  the 
solar  eclipse  of  May  15,  1856. 

In  1854,  conjointly  with  M.  Leverrier,  Mr.  Airy  likewise  de- 
termined the  difference  of  longitude  between  the  Greenwich 
Observatory  and  that  of  Paris.  The  method  was  the  same,  and 
consisted  in  the  employment  of  telegraphic  signals  for  the  com- 
parison of  the  simultaneous  state  of  the  clocks  of  the  two  observa- 
tories. The  signals  themselves  resulted  from  the  deviation  of 
two  magnetized  needles  placed  in  the  two  stations,  and  set  in 
motion  by  the  action  of  the  same  current.  The  signals  were 
observed  by  the  precaution  which  the  astronomer  took  of  noting 
the  time  of  the  clock  at  which  they  appeared ;  but  as  it  was  not 
possible,  in  a  general  way,  to  calculate  upon  an  accuracy  greater 
than  two  tenths  of  a  second  in  the  appreciation  of  the  instant  at 
which  a  signal  thus  observed  appeared,  it  was  necessary,  in  order 
to  arrive  at  a  high  degree  of  precision,  to  employ  a  great  number 
of  signals.  M.  Faye  would  have  preferred  that  recourse  should 
have  been  had  to  the  method  of  coincidences  for  the  comparison 
of  the  sidereal  clocks  of  the  two  observatories.  By  allowing  a 
series  of  simultaneous  signals  to  be  taken,  in  each  of  them,  by 
means  of  a  mean-time  pendulum,  the  epoch  could  have  been  ob- 
served of  the  coincidence  of  these  signals  with  the  sidereal  pendu- 
lum. The  relative  state  of  the  two  pendulums  would  have  been 
exactly  concluded,  because  the  coincidence  of  the  two  beats  would 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  253 

•have  been  observed  with  a  precision  far  superior  to  that  with 
which  a  fraction  of  a  second  of  time  is  estimated  directly. 

This  method,  based  upon  the  coincidence  of  pendulums,  was 
likewise  proposed  and  put  in  practice  by  M.  Thaler  of  the  Obser- 
vatory of  Upsal.  By  furnishing  the  extremity  of  the  rods  of  the 
two  pendulums  with  small  steel  points,  which  were  plunged  into 
mercury  at  the  moment  when  the  rods  were  perfectly  vertical, 
M.  Thaler  closed  his  circuit,  so  that  the  coincidence  of  the  two 
pendulums,  whatever  their  distance  and  their  difference  of  rate, 
might  be  indicated  by  the  establishment  of  a  current,  which  it  was 
easy  to  employ,  either  by  the  magnetization  of  an  electro-magnet, 
or  in  any  other  manner,  so  as  to  give  a  signal.  The  simultane- 
ous states  of  the  clocks  at  the  moment  of  the  coincidence  were 
determined  either  by  the  observers  themselves  or  by  registers. 
It  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  the  current  was  interrupted  as  soon 
as  the  pendulum  rods,  or  one  of  them,  ceased  to  be  in  a  vertical 
position. 

M.  Leverrier  was  led  to  think  that  the  question  would  be  still 
more  simplified  if  it  were  possible  completely  to  do  without  the 
determination  of  the  relative  state  of  the  pendulum ;  and  this  by 
registering  upon  the  same  chronograph  the  observations  made  in 
two  stations,  as  has  been  done  for  some  years  in  the  United  States 
by  Professor  Bond  of  Cambridge.  This  method  could  not  in  prin- 
ciple present  any  objection,  since  the  registration  is  made  by  the 
intervention  of  a  current  that  traverses  a  telegraphic  wire,  the 
length  of  which  is  a  matter  of  indifference.  But,  in  practice,  it 
presented  great  difficulties,  which  have  been  only  gradually  sur- 
mounted in  an  apparatus,  the  construction  of  which  has  been 
intrusted  to  M.  Liais.  Upon  a  band  of  paper,  set  in  motion  by 
a  train  of  wheels,  an  iron  point  traces  equidistant  divisions,  cor- 
responding to  the  movements  of  a  sidereal  pendulum,  and  by  the 
action  itself  of  this  pendulum  one  or  two  points  permit  the  ob- 
servers to  mark  by  dots,  by  means  of  the  electric  current,  upon 
this  same  paper  band,  the  instants  in  which  the  same  star  passes 
,the  various  wires  of  their  instruments.  The  difference  of  the 
stations  in  longitude  is  hence  concluded,  as  may  easily  be  under- 
stood. There  are  many  precautions  to  be  taken  in  the  employ- 
22 


254  VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS   OF 

ment  of  this  method,  which  has,  however,  enabled  M.  Leverrier 
to  determine,  with  remarkable  accuracy,  the  difference  of  longi- 
tude between  the  Observatory  of  Paris  and  the  DepOt  of  War, 
where  a  meridian  telescope  had  been  established. 

TELEGRAPHING  THE  APPROACH  OF  STORMS. 

The  electric  telegraph  is  found  of  very  great  importance  in 
meteorological  observations,  —  in  forewarning  the  approach  of 
storms,  and  in  facilitating  marine  reports  from  distant  points. 

It  was  known  in  Franklin's  time,  and,  if  we  mistake  not,  first 
published  to  the  world  by  that  eminent  philosopher,  that  north- 
east storms  always  come  from  the  southwest.  It  was  doubtless 
considered  in  his  day  a  statement  of  doubtful  veracity,  and  we 
can  imagine  many  a  wiseacre  shaking  his  head  and  exclaim- 
ing, "  I  don't  believe  it ! "  And  yet,  at  the  present  day,  where 
can  a  school-boy  even  be  found  who  does  not  know  that  they 
are  shivering  with  a  northeaster  in  New  York  several  hours 
before  the  Bostonians  see  any  indications  of  foul  weather  ? 

Thanks  to  the  promulgation  of  Espy's  theory  of  storms,  the 
whole  matter  is  now  well  understood  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in 
Europe. 

Among  those  who  have  applied  this  knowledge  to  practical  ac- 
count in  this  country  we  must  place  in  the  front  rank  Mr.  Joseph 
Brooks,  the  manager  of  the  line  of  steamers  which  ply  between 
Boston  and  Portland.  In  1850,  Mr.  Brooks  requested  us  to  em- 
ploy an  agent  for  him  in  New  York,  to  make  daily  observations 
of  the  state  of  the  wind  and  weather,  and  send  them  to  him,  over 
the  wires,  every  day  at  three  o'clock.  If  the  weather  looked  bad 
in  the  morning,  he  was  to  send  a  despatch  at  eight  o'clock ;  if  a 
storm  came  up,  to  send  another  about  noon ;  and  then  at  three  to 
give  a  full  statement  of  its  condition,  and,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
of  its  prospects. 

With  data  like  these,  Mr.  Brooks  could  at  once  tell  at  what 
hour  the  storm  would  reach  New  Haven,  Springfield,  Boston, 
and  all  the  points  between  Boston  and  Portland.  He  could  tell 
with  absolute  certainty  whether  it  would  be  prudent  to  send  his 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  255 

boat  to  Portland,  or  whether  it  would  be  safe  for  the  Portland 
boat  to  come  to  Boston.  If  the  storm  had  been  raging  with 
severity  for  some  hours  in  New  York,  he  knew  it  would  not  be 
safe  for  the  Portland  boat  to  come  out,  as  she  would  be  sure  to 
encounter  it  before  arriving  here ;  but  the  case  with  the  Boston 
boat  might  be  different,  for  she  could  reach  Portland  before  the 
storm  could  overtake  her. 

Storms  of  ordinary  velocity  will  travel  about  twenty-five  miles 
an  hour,  but  some  will  sweep  along  at  more  than  twice  this  rate 
of  speed,  and  will  cover  a  space  of  nearly  a  thousand  miles  in 
length  by  several  hundred  in  breadth. 

When  the  importance  of  the  matter  becomes  fully  understood, 
the  state  of  the  weather  will  be  telegraphed  between  every  im- 
portant town  upon  the  seaboard,  as  regularly  as  the  stocks  and 
markets  are  at  present ;  and  the  approach  of  every  large  storm 
will  be  announced  upon  our  coast  by  storm  signals,  put  up  at 
government  expense.  If  our  government  had  the  wisdom  and 
liberality  of  the  English  and  French  governments,  this  matter 
would  long  ago  have  been  looked  after,  and  it  would  have  estab- 
lished storm  signal-stations  along  the  whole  coast  of  Cape  Cod,  as 
well  as  upon  other  desirable  points. 

Were  such  a  system  in  operation,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  the 
amount  of  property  which  might  be  saved  every  year.  Vessels 
might  have  ample  time  to  make  safe  harbor,  which,  not  knowing 
of  the  approach  of  the  storm,  pass  on  their  way  and  are  lost. 

To  show  the  importance  of  this  matter  in  Mr.  Brooks's  case, 
who  has  made  daily  use  of  the  wires  for  the  past  nine  years,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  his  steamers  have  avoided  all  storms,  and  his 
line  is  the  safest  and  most  reliable  in  the  country.  So  highly 
does  he  esteem  it,  he  assures  us,  that  he  would  rather  pay  the 
cost  of  telegraphing  for  a  whole  year,  than  have  one  of  his  boats 
exposed  to  a  storm,  even  if  she  sustained  no  particular  damage. 

TELEGRAPH  MARINE  REPORTS. 

Upon  the  extreme  end  of  Cape  Cod,  within  a  few  miles  of 
Provincetown,  there  is  an  elevated  strip  of  land  extending  from 


256         APPLICATIONS   OF  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

Cape  Cod  Bay  to  the  ocean,  called  "  Highland  Light,"  in  the 
town  of  Truro.  There  are  no  residents  there  except  the  light- 
house keepers  and  their  families.  The  soil  —  if  it  can  be  called 
soil  —  is  poor,  barely  raising  a  little  grass  and  corn,  and  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  place  is  dreary  and  cheerless ;  and  yet,  to 
the  Boston  merchant  and  ship-owner,  the  place  possesses  a  pecu- 
liar charm,  for  it  is  from  this  point  that  he  obtains,  often,  the  first 
tidings  of  his  expected  ship  ! 

Situated  upon  a  point  of  land  quite  near  the  edge  of  the  preci- 
pice, and  not  far  from  the  light-house,  its  only  companion  is  a 
small,  one-story  house,  containing  but  one  room.  In  this  room 
there  is  a  telescope,  a  book  or  two  of  marine  signals  —  Marryatt's, 
Rogers's,  and  some  others,  —  and  an  electric-telegraph  instru- 
ment. A  young  man  stands  at  the  door,  telescope  in  hand,  and 
every  now  and  then  raises  it  to  his  eye  and  sweeps  the  broad 
ocean.  Presently  he  observes  in  the  far  distance  an  object, 
which,  to  the  untutored  eye,  is  scarcely  visible ;  but  his  long 
accustomed  vision  has  already  made  her  out  to  be  a  ship,  and  he 
is  now  endeavoring  to  decipher  her  signals.  At  last  he  has  them, 
and  he  at  once  goes  to  his  signal-book,  makes  out  her  name,  where 
she  belongs,  who  she  is  owned  by,  and  by  whom  commanded. 
Having  obtained  these  facts,  he  goes  up  to  that  faithful  servant 
of  man,  the  telegraph  instrument,  and  calls  "  Boston."  In  a  mo- 
ment the  operator  answers,  "  Go  ahead,"  and  in  two  minutes  the 
fact  is  recorded  in  bold  letters  upon  the  General  Record  Book  at. 

the  News  Room  in  State  Street,  that  the  " ,  of  Boston,  Capt. 

,  from  Smyrna,  passed  Highland  Light  at  10  A.  M.,  bound 

in,  —  distant  nine  miles." 


PART    VII. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF   TELEGRAPH   LINES. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

POSTS. 

THE  most  important  consideration  in  relation  to  the  subject 
of  electric  telegraphy  is  to  have  the  lines  properly  constructed ; 
but  this,  in  our  country  at  least,  has  been  the  least  attended 
to.  We  are  quite  apt  to  say  such  a  thing  will  answer  the  pur- 
pose for  a  while,  and  rarely  in  any  undertaking  look  far  into 
the  future.  It  is  an  American  custom  to  substitute  temporary 
expedients,  even  when  we  have  the  means  of  producing  per- 
manent results. 

This  common  custom  and  fault  of  our  countrymen  has  been 
very  generally  manifested  in  the  construction  of  all  our  tele- 
graph lines.  They  are  usually  built  in  haste,  the  posts  generally 
set  while  filled  with  sap,  often  without  taking  off  the  bark ;  and 
the  consequence  has  been,  that  in  a  very  few  years  they  have 
rotted  off  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  then  been  replaced  by 
others  in  the  same  manner. 

Now,  had  our  telegraph  managers  consulted  any  competent 
authority  upon  the  subject,  they  would  have  ascertained  that 
the  poles  should  have  been  cut  at  least  six  months  before 
they  were  to  be  used,  thoroughly  dried,  the  bark  carefully 
removed,  and  the  bottoms  charred  for  five  or  six  feet.  Chestnut 
poles,  five  inches  in  thickness  at  the  top,  prepared  in  this  manner, 
would  last  at  least  twenty  years. 

22*  Q 


258  CONSTRUCTION   OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

In  France  the  posts  are  of  pine  or  fir,  from  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  in  length,  which  they  inject  with  sulphate  of  copper,  by  the 
Bouchirn  process,  to  lengthen  the  time  of  their  preservation. 
They  bark  them  and  fix  them  in  the  earth,  the  smallest  to  the 
depth  of  thirty  inches,  the  tallest  to  the  depth  of  sixty  inches  ; 
the  buried  part  is  perfectly  preserved  by  the  sulphate  of  copper. 
Poles  prepared  in  this  manner  are  very  durable,  but  there  is  con- 
siderable expense  attending  it,  and  we  presume  the  simple  char- 
ing would  be  preferable  in  this  country,  where  the  best  poles  can 
be  had  for  about  eighty  cents  apiece.  They  should  be  at  least 
five  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top,  and  about  fifteen  feet  out  of  the 
ground,  and  five  feet  in.  The  length  of  the  posts  must  neces- 
sarily vary  according  to  the  locality  in  which  they  are  placed ; 
but  if  along  a  line  of  railway,  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  is  sufficient. 
Experience  has  demonstrated  that,  in  this  country  especially, 
there  are  no  considerable  number  of  persons  who  are  disposed  to 
molest  the  apparatus  of  the  telegraph,  no  matter  how  much  ex- 
posed it  may  be.  In  the  vicinity  of  Boston  the  wires  are  con- 
ducted along  the  railings  of  the  bridges,  where  they  could  be 
easily  deranged ;  but  no  disposition  to  interfere  with  them  has 
ever  been  manifested. 

Aerial  lines  are  greatly  superior  to  subterranean,  both  on 
account  of  the  facility  with  which  breaks  and  other  accidents 
may  be  detected,  and  because  the  apparatus  works  with  much 
greater  speed.  There  are  few  systems,  in  fact,  capable  of  work- 
ing over  long  submarine  lines,  on  account  of  the  return  current 
from  static  induction,  and  the  same  is  true  of  subterranean  lines, 
as  proved  by  the  experiments  in  England  with  the  House  instru- 
ments. 

The  posts  should  be  firmly  set  in  the  ground,  to  the  depth  of 
five  feet.  They  should  also  be  placed  in  a  straight  line,  or  as 
nearly  so  as  possible,  to  prevent  unnecessary  strain ;  and  wher- 
ever an  angle  occurs,  a  strong  pole,  capable  of  sustaining  the 
utmost  tension  of  the  line,  should  be  placed.  The  posts  should 
average  thirty  to  the  mile. 

Whenever  it  is  found  necessary  to  place  more  than  one  wire 
upon  a  post,  arms  or  supports  should  be  fastened  to  the  posts, 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  259 

and  the  wires  carried  at  least  two  feet  from  them.  This  would 
give  a  distance  of  four  feet  between  the  wires,  which  would 
lessen  the  liability  of  the  escape  of  the  electric  fluid  from  one 
wire  to  another. 

There  are  many  persons  connected  with  telegraphing,  who 
suppose  the  magnetic  influence  of  a  current  sent  over  one  wire, 
and  which  is  manifested  upon  another,  to  be  due  to  the  phenom- 
ena of  induction ;  but  this  is  an  error  capable  of  being  demon- 
strated very  readily.  You  have  only  to  place  a  wire  having 
a  current  flowing  through  it  in  close  proximity  to  one  with- 
out an  electrical  current,  but  whose  extremities  are  joined  to- 
gether, or  connected  with  the  earth.  By  placing  a  galvanometer 
within  the  second  circuit,  it  can  very  easily  be  proved  that  the 
phenomena  of  induction  are  not  sufficient  to  account  for  the  ef- 
fects produced  upon  the  instruments  connected  by  parallel  lines. 
This  influence  is  due  to  conduction  between  the  wires,  caused  by 
the  accumulation  of  moisture  upon  the  insulators  and  the  posts ; 
and  in  England,  where  occasionally  as  many  as  twenty  or  more 
wires  are  placed  on  the  same  post,  the  action  is  most  detrimental, 
and  electricity,  when  intended  to  be  transmitted  along  one  wire 
only,  often  finds  its  way  more  or  less  into  all  the  wires,  and  thus 
not  only  lessens  the  quantity  intended  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
distant  instrument,  but  disarranges  the  instruments  connected 
with  all  these  other  wires.  Owing  to  this  result  of  imperfect  in- 
sulation, it  has  been  found  impossible  for  weeks  together  to  tele- 
graph direct  even  between  London  and  Liverpool. 

We  experience  no  difficulty  in  this  country  from  conduction 
between  the  wires  (except  when  in  actual  contact),  saving  in  wet 
weather ;  but  upon  some  routes,  the  effect  during  wet  weather  is 
very  serious.  We  have  known  two  wires  upon  the  same  posts, 
which  worked  admirably  during  dry  weather,  to  be  rendered  use- 
less by  even  a  half-hour's  severe  rain,  unless  one  of  them  were 
discontinued  from  all  attempts  at  operation. 

To  refer  to  the  matter  of  induction  again  briefly:  it  is  well 
known  that  an  induced  current  flows  in  the  opposite  direction  to 
the  current  inducing  it,  and  therefore,  if  a  positive  current  were 
sent  west,  the  negative  would  return.  Such,  however,  has  never 


260  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

been  the  case  with  any  of  the  so-called  induced  currents  upon 
telegraph  lines ;  upon  the  chemical  lines,  only  the  positive  cur- 
rent colors  the  paper,  but  during  rain-storms,  or  fogs,  the  currents 
of  conduction  between  the  lines  have  always  been  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  primitive  currents,  and  were  known,  in  fact,  as 
"  rain  crosses,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  actual  metallic  contacts, 
commonly  called  "  crosses." 

THE  WIRE  CONDUCTORS. 

The  wire  used  for  telegraph  lines  for  the  past  thirteen  years 
has  been  iron ;  generally,  in  this  country,  of  No.  9 ;  but  in  Eu- 
rope No.  8  is  more  commonly  used.  Iron  wire  of  the  same 
diameter  conducts  only  about  one  seventh  as  well  as  copper, 
but  the  cheapness  and  strength  of  the  former  render  it  far 
preferable  to  the  latter.  Twisted  wire  has  been  tried  upon  some 
lines  in  this  country,  but  after  a  few  years'  trial  was  pronounced 
a  failure,  and  its  use  abandoned. 

The  iron  wire  ought  to  be  galvanized,  or,  rather,  coated  with 
zinc  to  prevent  it  from  rusting ;  but  few  lines  in  this  country  have 
adopted  it.  As  a  matter  of  economy,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
greater  ease  with  which  the  current  propagates  itself  upon  it,  it 
should  be  used.  Near  the  sea,  wires  not  coated  rust  off  in  a  few 
years ;  in  fact,  we  have  seen  instances  where  they  have  com- 
pletely melted  away,  in  less  than  two  years,  under  the  influence 
of  the  action  of  salt  spray. 

On  the  contrary,  zinc-coated  lines  have  been  used  for  ten 
years,  and  are  yet  in  good  preservation.  When  rain  first  falls 
on  the  zinc  covering,  an  oxide  of  zinc  is  formed,  and,  this  oxide 
being  insoluble  in  water,  a  second  fall  of  rain  cannot  dissolve  or 
penetrate  it.  The  zinc  covering  and  the  iron  wire  inside  are  thus 
prevented  from  rusting  away. 

Where  the  distance  between  the  supports  for  the  wire  is  very 
great,  as  in  the  crossing  of  broad  rivers,  steel  wire  is  employed 
instead  of  iron.  The  longest  stretch  of  this  kind  in  America  is 
that  over  the  St.  Lawrence  River  near  Caughnewaga.  The  rap- 
ids at  this  point  are  the  most  dangerous  upon  the  river,  and  no  nav- 
igators, except  the  native  Indians,  are  capable  of  crossing  them ; 
and  even  with  them,  the  feat  is  not  considered  an  easy  one. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES.  261 

In  the  autumn  of  1855,  Mr.  Alphonso  Prescott,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Montreal  and  New  York  Printing  Telegraph 
Company,  after  several  weeks  of  unceasing,  severe,  and  hazard- 
ous labor,  succeeding  in  stretching  a  steel  wire  across  these  dan- 
gerous rapids,  and  safely  hoisting  it  upon  the  masts  at  either  side. 
Several  times,  with  the  aid  of  his  faithful  Indian  assistants,  he 
nearly  accomplished  the  feat,  when  the  wire  would  be  snapped  by 
the  force  of  the  current ;  but,  nothing  daunted  by  repeated  failures, 
he  persevered,  amid  cold  and  danger,  until  success  crowned  his 
efforts.  To  those  who  have  passed  through  the  Lachine  Rapids 
upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  we  need  say  nothing  of  the  dangers  attend- 
ing it ;  and  to  those  who  have  never  done  so,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  their  wild  character. 

In  order  to  accomplish  the  feat  of  stretching  the  line  across,  it 
was  necessary  for  the  canoes  to  paddle  up  the  stream  some  con- 
siderable distance,  to  make  up  for  the  loss  by  the  force  of  the 
current  in  crossing.  Six  of  these  canoes  took  part  in  the  opera- 
tion, the  first  containing  Mr.  Prescott,  the  coil  of  wire,  "Big 
Bettese,"  the  chief  of  the  Caughnewaga  tribe,  and  one  other 
brave.  The  slightest  accident  to  the  frail  canoe  was  certain 
death;  but  Mr.  Prescott  had  full  faith  in  his  Indian  friends, 
both  as  to  their  wonderful  skill  in  the  navigation  of  these  dan- 
gerous rapids,  and  to  their  sincere  friendship  for  him,  and  the 
result  proved  the  propriety  of  this  confidence. 

Where  iron  wires  coated  with  zinc  are  in  the  neighborhood  of 
manufacturing  towns,  where  great  quantities  of  coal  are  daily 
burned,  the  sulphurous  vapors  arising  from  such  fuel,  and  passing 
over  the  oxide  of  zinc  formed  on  the  covering  of  the  wires,  convert 
such  oxide  of  zinc  into  a  sulphate  of  zinc  when  the  same  is  cov- 
ered with  moisture.  This  sulphate  of  zinc,  being  soluble  in  water, 
is  immediately  melted  by  the  rain,  and  drops  off  with  it.  The 
wire  is  thus  denuded  of  its  insoluble  covering,  and  soon  melts 
away.  We  have  had  wires  reduced  from  a  diameter  of  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  down  to  the  diameter  of  a  common  sewing-needle  in 
less  than  two  years.  In  such  cases  it  is  necessary  to  protect  the 
wires  by  a  covering  of  varnish  or  paint,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
contact  of  these  vapors  with  the  wire,  or  to  employ  wires  entirely 
encased  in  bone-rubber. 


262  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

INSULATION. 

One  of  the  most  important  matters  connected  with  the  elec- 
tric telegraph  is  the  proper  insulation  of  the  wires  ;  but  this, 
we  are  sorry  to  say,  is  one  of  the  great  defects  of  all  the  lines 
in  this  country.  It  does  not  matter  how  perfect  our  appara- 
tus is  in  other  respects ;  if  the  insulation  is  defective,  it  is  a 
constant  source  of  annoyance,  and  causes,  oftentimes,  great  loss 
of  business.  Much  can  be  done  by  increasing  the  power  of  the 
batteries,  and  by  distributing  them  along  the  line  ;  still  the  disa- 
greeable fact  ought  not  to  be  withheld,  that  in  rainy  or  foggy 
weather  not  one  of  our  telegraph  lines  in  this  country  is  reliable, 
or,  if  they  work  at  all,  it  is  only  from  one  short  station  to  another, 
and  that  with  much  difficulty.  But  this  is  also  the  case  in  Eng- 
land, France,  Germany,  —  in  a  word,  in  every  country  where  the 
electric  telegraph  has  been-  introduced. 

Cannot  the  insulation  be  improved,  and  something  approaching 
the  desideratum  long  hoped  for  be  obtained  ?  We  think  it  can. 
Science  and  experience  have  been  teaching  us,  ever  since  the  first 
rod  of  telegraph  wire  has  been  in  operation,  that  we  should  not 
rely  upon  glass  as  an  insulator ;  and  yet  it  has  been  almost  uni- 
versally used  in  this  country.  Every  one  has  observed  that, 
whenever  the  weather  is  wet  or  foggy,  every  article  of  glass  is 
covered  with  a  thin  film  of  water ;  and  of  course  each  insulator 
on  a  line  of  telegraph  is  so  covered  with  moisture.  Certainly 
some  electricity  will  escape  over  each  glass  insulator  so  covered ; 
in  fact,  glass  becomes  a  conductor  as  soon  as  it  is  exposed  to 
humidity ;  it  attracts  to  its  surface  the  aqueous  vapors  of  the 
atmosphere  ;  they  form  there  a  thin  film  of  water,  by  which  the 
electricity  passes  away.  When  we  reflect,  that,  on  a  line  of  tele- 
graph 500  miles  in  length,  there  are  15,000  such  imperfect  insu- 
lators to  conduct  the  fluid  from  the  wire,  we  are  at  no  loss  to 
account  for  the  dissipation  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  galvanism 
generated  by  the  battery,  and  the  consequent  bad  working  of  the 
line. 

The  insulators  now  in  use  are  the  glass,  unprotected  by  iron  or 
other  covering  ;  glass  protected  by  an  iron  covering  ;  pine  wood 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  263 

baked  and  soaked  with  shellac,  and  having  a  piece  of  glass  in- 
serted ;  glazed  porous  earthenware,  or  baked  clay ;  glass  upon 
wooden  pins,  protected  by  a  wooden  shield ;  white  flint ;  bone- 
rubber  surrounding  an  iron  hook,  the  rubber  having  a  screw  cut 
upon  it  which  is  fastened  to  a  wooden  block  ;  and  the  bone-rubber 
protected  by  an  iron  covering. 

The  chief  and  unsurmountable  objection  to  the  use  of  the  un- 
protected glass  insulator  is  its  great  liability  to  fracture.  So 
great  does  this  objection  practically  prove,  especially  in  thinly 
populated  districts,  where  blows  from  missiles  are  most  liable  to 
occur,  that  on  lines  of  one  hundred  miles  in  length,  insulated 
with  unprotected  glass,  there  are  always  from  five  to  thirty  insu- 
lators fractured  and  useless.  Within  the  past  year  we  have  been 
obliged  to  replace  over  one  thousand  of  these  unprotected  glass 
insulators  upon  a  line  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  length. 
It  is  obvious  that  during  rain-storms  the  working  of  a  line  thus 
imperfectly  insulated  must  be  sadly  interrupted.  The  manufac- 
turers of  the  glass  insulator  find  it  extremely  difficult  greatly  to 
increase  the  strength  of  the  material  by  increasing  its  thickness, 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in  suitably  annealing  it. 
A  slight  scratch  will  often  cause  the  thicker  insulator  to  fracture 
and  become  useless. 

The  iron-protected  insulator  (that  is,  a  glass  insulator  with  an 
iron  covering)  is  practically  much  superior  to  unprotected  glass, 
and  is  the  kind  at  present  used  upon  some  lines.  Still,  it  is  in 
several  respects  highly  objectionable.  The  glass  within  the 
iron  is  extremely  liable  to  fracture  from  the  effects  of  missiles 
striking  the  iron  protection.  When  the  glass  within  is  frac- 
tured or  cracked,  capillary  attraction  ensues  during  moist  states 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  thus  is  formed  an  electrical  connec- 
tion between  the  two  metallic  surfaces  which  the  glass  should 
insulate.  When  one  of  the  iron-protected  insulators  becomes 
imperfect,  it  is  extremely  difficult,  in  riding  by,  to  find  the  exact 
location  of  the  difficulty,  and  determine  which  insulator  is  at  fault. 
The  large  majority  of  posts  splintered  by  the  effects  of  lightning 
during  the  spring  and  summer  months  are  upon  lines  making  use 
of  iron-protected  insulators.  The  cause  is  obvious.  The  res- 


264  CONSTRUCTION   OF   TELEGKAPH  LINES. 

ence  of  so  large  a  mass  of  metal  serves  to  attract  and  accumulate 
a  great  quantity  of  free  electricity,  which,  having  no  conductor 
to  the  earth,  except  the  damp  post,  and  that  offering  a  great  re- 
sistance to  its  passage,  is  shivered  in  the  descent.  The  iron- 
protected  insulator  is  necessarily  costly,  being  composed  of  two 
materials,  and  manufactured  at  places  usually  quite  distant. 
Double  handling,  and  an  extra  transportation,  augment  the  ex- 
pense. 

The  chief  objections  to  wood,  coated  or  saturated  with  shellac, 
are,  that  the  shellac  cracks  and  decomposes  upon  the  surface  on 
exposure  to  atmospheric  influences  and  during  moist  weather,  and 
the  difficulty  of  shaping  wood  into  ibrms  most  approved  for  shed- 
ding rain,  without  large  expense. 

Porous  earthenware  and  baked-clay  insulators  are  principally 
defective  from  the  fact,  that  the  body  is  so  porous  as  readily  and 
easily  to  absorb  moisture.  Whenever  the  glazing  is  broken 
through  by  the  wire  and  the  spike,  a  moist  communication  is  at 
once  established,  and  the  insulator  is  highly  imperfect.  A  similar 
objection  holds  against  the  use  of  gums,  resins,  and  other  non- 
conducting substances  less  hard  than  glass,  as  the  wire  would  soon 
wear  through  and  touch  the  pin  upon  which  the  insulator  rests  ; 
the  surface,  also,  is  liable  to  gradual  decomposition  on  exposure. 
This  system  of  insulation  is  extensively  used  in  Great  Britain, 
where  they  have  undergone  great  expense  in  providing  wooden 
roofs  to  shelter  them  from  the  rain;  but  they  answer  a  very  indif- 
ferent purpose,  even  when  so  protected. 

In  Germany  and  France  they  use  glass  very  extensively,  as 
indeed  they  do  in  Australia,  California,  South  America,  Canada, 
and  other  British  American  Provinces,  and  in  the  United 
States. 

The  glass  with  a  wooden  shield  (Fig.  78)  is  preferable  to  the 
iron,  and  far  preferable  to  the  unprotected  glass  insulator ;  but  it 
is  open  to  the  serious  objection,  that  when  a  fracture  occurs  it 
cannot  be  discovered  except  by  climbing  the  pole  and  making  a 
minute  examination  (Fig.  79).  We  have  under  our  charge  some 
two  hundred  miles  of  line  insulated  in  this  manner,  which  has 
been  in  operation  about  four  years,  and  has  required  very  little 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 


265 


repair  ;  but  it  has  not  proved  a  good  insulator  in  wet  weather,  it 
being  difficult  sometimes,  after  a  few  hours'  rain,  to  work  through 
a  circuit  of  less  than  a  hundred  miles. 


Fig.  78.  Fig.  79. 

The  white  flint  insulator  (Fig.  80),  invented  by  Mr.  E.  B.  El- 
liott, we  consider  the  best  in  use.  The  superiority  of  this  insu- 
lator consists  in  its  strength,  insulating  prop- 
erties, and  economy.  The  claim  for  inven- 
tion is  twofold :  the  anti-porous  nature  of 
the  material  —  being  the  result  of  a  con- 
tinued series  of  careful  experiments,  and  the 
improvements  in  form  —  tending  to  give  in- 
creased strength,  and  also  affording  addi- 
tional protection  against  the  ill  effects  of 
atmospheric  changes. 

Its  composition  is  flint,  felspar,  and 
quartz,  principally  flint.  The  strength  of 
the  heaviest  of  the  insulators  in  use  has 
been  thoroughly  tested  by  pistol-balls,  and 
also  by  being  brought  forcibly  in  contact  with  the  iron-protected 
23 


Fig.  80. 


266        CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

insulators  in  common  use  ;  in  the  former  case  merely  flattening 
the  bullets  upon  the  convex  surface,  without  fracturing  the  insu- 
lator, and  in  the  latter  case  breaking  not  only  the  glass  within 
the  iron,  but  fracturing  the  iron  protection  itself.  Its  insulating 
properties  equal  those  of  the  purest  glass,  and  are  superior  to 
those  of  glass  in  common  use.  No  deliquescent  salts  enter  into 
its  composition  ;  consequently  moisture  from  the  atmosphere  is 
less  likely  to  accumulate  upon  the  surface  of  this  insulator  than 
upon  those  made  of  common  glass.  Its  anti-porous  qualities  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  severest  tests  by  scientific  and  practical 
telegraphers.  The  corrugations  beneath  serve  as  additional  pro- 
tection against  such  an  accumulation  of  moisture  as  would  permit 
a  premature  escape  of  the  electric  current,  since  the  moisture  is 
little  likely  to  collect,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  on  the  ridges  and 
in  the  depressions.  Hence,  there  is  left  upon  the  surface  at  least 
one  dry  and  insulating  ring,  which  the  electricity  cannot  pass. 

As  regards  economy,  this  insulator  can  be  afforded  at  a  lower 
price  than  any  protected  insulator  heretofore  used,  —  the  prices 
ranging  from  ten  to  fifteen  cents  each,  being  determined  by  the 
quantity  used  and  by  the  pattern  adopted.  Adding  to  these 
prices  six  cents,  the  cost  of  an  iron  spike  upon  which  the  insulator 
is  placed,  gives  from  sixteen  to  twenty-one  cents  for  the  total  cost 
of  insulator  and  spike.  If  wooden  pins,  costing  one  cent  each, 
are  used,  the  total  cost  of  insulator  and  pin  will  be  from  eleven 
to  sixteen  cents.  The  cost  of  iron-protected  insulators  now  in 
use  varies  from  twenty-five  to  sixty-two  cents.  There  are,  how- 
ever, but  few  lines  still  retaining  the  iron-protected  insulator,  and 
they  are  mainly  confined  to  use  in  cities,  where  the  wires  cross 
high  buildings. 

The  white-flint  insulator  is  fractured  with  very  great  difficulty, 
and  would  be  uninjured  by  missiles  as  ordinarily  thrown  ;  but 
should  one  become  imperfect,  the  fact  would  be  at  once  evident, 
and  could  be  detected  as  far  as  the  insulator  could  be  distinguished. 
It  serves  rather  to  protect  posts  from  the  injurious  effects  of  light- 
ning (which  iron-capped  insulators  invite),  and  on  this  account  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  South  and  our  Western 
prairies.  Its  insulating  properties  depend  on  no  mere  glazed 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.       267 

coating.  Its  shape  is  perfectly  adapted  to  the  attainment  of  the 
greatest  strength  consistent  with  the  affording  of  due  protection 
from  the  injurious  effects  of  storms  and  atmospheric  influences. 
Should  fracture  occur,  it  would,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  continue 
supporting  the  wire,  and  be  still  an  insulator.  It  affords  the 
readiest  facilities  for  prompt  repair,  an  advantage  of  no  small 
practical  importance.  It  is  throughout  an  insulator,  and,  like 
glass,  impervious  to  moisture,  under  common  atmospheric  pres- 
sures. 

This  insulator  has  been  used  to  some  extent  during  the  past 
five  years,  and  experience  has  demonstrated  the  correctness  of 
the  statements  we  have  made  in  regard  to  it  ;  and  although 
it  is  not  a  perfect  insulator,  it  approaches  nearer  the  require- 
ments of  such  than  any  other  which  has  been  tried.  Upon 
some  lines,  of  forty  to  sixty  miles  in  length,  the  operators  have 
not  experienced  any  escape  during  the  heaviest  storms.  But  to 
give  them  a  thorough  trial,  they  ought  to  be  placed  upon  lines 
of  several  hundred  miles  in  length.  It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped, 
that,  in  the  changes  now  going  on  so  extensively  among  the  lead- 
ing telegraph  interests  in  this  country,  this  most  important  and 
vital  question  of  insulation  may  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  some 
thorough,  practical  electrician  for  solution.  Our  present  system 
of  insulation  is  a  positive  disgrace  to  the  scientific  ability  of  our 
American  telegraphic  engineers.  Our  principal  lines  work  very 
well  during  dry  weather,  when  in  fact  scarcely  any  insulation, 
beyond  the  dry  poles,  is  needed ;  but  let  a  shower,  even,  come 
up,  and  all  the  wires  are  seriously  affected  by  escape. 

It  is  not  an  unfrequent  occurrence,  during  the  rainy  season,  for 
all  communication  between  the  important  cities  of  New  York  and 
Boston,  by  the  wires,  to  be  suspended,  notwithstanding  there  are 
no  less  than  eight  direct  lines  extending  between  the  two  places. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  this  whatever ;  and  were  the  large  and 
most  approved  pattern  of  white-flint  insulator  —  set  upon  a 
wooden  pin  —  substituted  for  the  defective  varieties  now  in  use, 
we  feel  assured  that  the  serious  difficulty  would  be  surmounted, 
and  that  telegraphic  intercourse  between  these  points  would  be 
placed  beyond  the  reach  of  rain-storms  or  fogs. 


2G8  CONSTRUCTION  OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

In  using  the  white-flint  insulator,  we  should  strongly  recom- 
mend the  use  of  wooden  brackets  for  supports,  instead  of  iron. 
During  the  past  few  years  a  new  material  has  demanded  the 
attention  of  our  telegraph  managers,  as  a  substi- 
tute for  glass  and  other  insulating  substances,  viz. 
bone-rubber.    Some  ten  thousand  miles  of  wire  are 
insulated  with  this  substance  at  the  present  time. 

The  form  most  generally  used  is  that  of  a 
straight  shank,  terminated  with  a  hook.  The 
shank  is  of  iron,  covered  with  bone-rubber,  upon 
which  is  cut  a  screw-thread,  which  is  then  screwed 
into  a  wooden  block  (Fig.  81),  four  inches  square ; 
the  block  is  made  fast  to  the  posts  by  means  of 
iron  spikes.  The  wire  is  held  by  the  hook,  which 
depends  from  the  under  side  of  the  block 

This  insulator  has  but  one  substantial  fault,  and  that  easily 
remedied,  —  want  of  insulating  distance.  There  is  but  one  inch 
of  insulating  distance  between  the  iron  hook  and  the  wooden 
block,  and,  of  course,  during  a  heavy  rain-storrn  this  soon  be- 
comes covered  with  moisture,  and  the  current  escapes  in  large 
quantities.  In  fact,  with  a  good  earth  wire  in  our  hands,  and  ap- 
plying the  tongue  to  the  moist  pole,  we  can  taste  the  escape  cur- 
rent within  a  few  inches  of  the  block. 

A  very  large  number  of  these  insulators  have  been  used  upon 
the  Northern  and  Eastern  lines,  and  various  expedients  proposed 
to  remedy  the  defect.  One  of  them  is  a  rather  complicated  ar- 
rangement, by  which  a  glass  cylinder  is  fastened  to  the  hook,  and 
the  line  wire  tied  to  the  glass.  Besides  being  very  easily  broken, 
the  glass  is  so  filled  and  tied  about  with  iron,  as  to  afford  scarcely 
any  insulating  surface. 

We  have  proposed  to  remedy  the  defect  of  this  insulator  by 
simply  increasing  the  insulating  surface  of  the  bone-rubber.  In- 
stead of  having  only  one  inch  of  insulating  distance,  let  us  have 
twelve.  This  can  be  done  either  by  increasing  the  length  of  the 
shank,  or  by  having  the  shank  covered  with  a  shield  of  bone- 
rubber.  This  would  make  a  firm,  durable  insulator,  giving  twelve 
inches  of  insulating  distance,  six  of  which  would  be  beyond  the 
influence  of  descending  moisture. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES.  269 

We  cannot  speak  from  positive  knowledge,  —  to  be  only  ob- 
tained, as  are  all  scientific  facts,  by  actual  experiment,  —  but  we 
have  no  doubt  that  an  insulator  thus  made  would  enable  a  wire 
to  work  five  hundred  miles  during  any  weather. 

This  insulator  would  be  somewhat  more  costly  than  the  ordi- 
nary kind,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  bar  its  use  from  any  line 
where  good  insulation  is  required. 

A  line  of  fifty  miles  in  length  may  be  worked  in  ordinary 
weather  without  the  aid  of  other  insulators  than  the  posts,  and  it 
may  be  worked  half  that  distance  even  during  a  storm  ;  but  this 
distance  cannot  be  safely  increased.  In  1847,  a  line  was  con- 
structed between  Boston  and  Portland,  —  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles,  —  without  insulators,  the  wire  being  simply 
attached  by  iron  spikes  to  the  posts  ;  but  the  experiment  did  not 
prove  a  successful  one,  the  line  not  being  able  to  work  until  insu- 
lated. The  very  idea  of  trying  to  work  a  line  this  distance  with- 
out insulation  showed  most  unpardonable  ignorance  on  the  part 
of  the  proprietor,  the  necessity  for  such  insulation  having  been 
demonstrated  by  Franklin,  Watson,  and  Le  Mounier,  for  high- 
tension  electricity,  in  1747-50,  and  by  Gauss  and  Weber, 
Steinheil,  and  Wheatstone,  in  1833-37,  for  that  of  low  ten- 
sion, or  galvanism. 

The  use  of  iron,  or  other  metals,  in  the  construction  of  tele- 
graphs, except  as  conductors,  should  be  avoided  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. Many  lines  have  been  seriously  injured  by  the  improper 
use  of  rods  of  iron,  extending  between  posts  situated  upon  oppo- 
site sides  of  a  street,  to  which  were  attached  insulators,  for  the 
purpose  of  conducting  wires  out  of  the  branches  of  trees. 

Such  rods  have  been  used  in  many  of  the  cities  and  villages 

v  O 

in  Connecticut,  where  there  are  great  numbers  of  shade-trees ; 
but  it  was  found  that  in  damp  weather  they  caused  great  escape 
from  one  wire  to  another,  and  they  were  consequently  removed. 

COST  OF   CONSTRUCTING  AERIAL  LINES. 

The  cost  of  constructing  lines  of  aerial  telegraph  depends  very 
much  upon  the  route,  the  peculiarities  of  the  soil,  and  whether 
they  are  upon  lines  of  railway  or  over  turnpikes.     We  give  the 
23* 


270  CONSTRUCTION   OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

cost  of  the  materials  used,  and  the  expense  of  construction  per 

mile :  — 

No.  9  iron  wire,  7f  cts.  per  lb.,  320  Ibs.  per  mile,      $  24.80 

30  posts,  at  80  cts., 24.00 

30  insulators,  at  20  cts., 6.00 

Setting  posts  per  mile, 5.00 

Putting  up  the  wire  per  mile,       ....  2.00 

Total  cost  per  mile, $  61.80 

This  is  about  the  cost  of  construction  of  a  majority  of  our 
lines;  but  if  constructed  as  they  should  be,  they  would  cost  $  150 
per  mile. 

The  cost  of  posts  varies  according  to  the  locality.  In  some 
places  they  can  be  had  of  good  chestnut  for  forty  cents  apiece. 

We  also  give  the  prices  of  the  different  kinds  of  insulators  in 
general  use :  — 

Glass  (unprotected),  with  iron  spike,      .         .         .13  cts. 

Glass,  with  wooden  shield  and  brackets,      .         .         25  cts. 

White  flint,  with  wooden  pin,         .         .         .         .18  c'ts. 

Bone-rubber,  with  block,   .  ...         20  cts. 

Bone-rubber,  with  iron  covering,    .         .         .         .62  cts. 

Cost  of  Instruments,  Batteries,  fyc. 
Morse  register,    ....... 

Morse  relay  magnet,         .         . 

Key, 

Local  battery,  ....... 

Total  cost  of  apparatus  for  office,   .         .         .     $  52.00 

Now  let  us  see  what  the  cost  of  a  line  of  telegraph  of  five 
hundred  miles  would  be,  constructed  in  the  best  manner,  and 
fully  equipped  with  all  the  necessary  apparatus  for  business. 

500  miles  of  line,  at  $  150  per  mile,          .         .  $  75,000.00 
100  cells  Grove  battery,  at  $  1.50,        .         .  150.00 

50  stations,  at  $  52  for  apparatus,     .         .         .        2,600.00 

$  77,750.00 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  271 

The  cost  of  constructing  lines  of  telegraph  in  England  is 
much  greater  than  in  this  country,  owing  to  the  more  substantial 
manner  in  which  they  are  built. 

The  wire  generally  used  is  iron,  of  about  one  sixth  of  an  inch 
in  diameter  (No.  8  gauge),  covered  with  a  layer  of  zinc,  in  order 
to  prevent  oxidation.  The  posts  are  from  15  to  20  feet  high, 
according  to  circumstances,  6  to  12  inches  square  at  the  base, 
and  4  to  6  inches  square  at  the  top ;  they  are  painted  white,  and 
are  tarred  at  the  lower  end,  where  it  enters  into  the  ground; 
their  distance  varies  from  55  to  73£  yards. 

Independently  of  the  supporting  poles,  winding-posts  exist  at 
regular  distances,  —  the  mean  of  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  — 
intended,  as  their  name  indicates,  for  straining  the  wires,  which 
but  for  this,  on  account  of  their  great  length,  would  form  a  curve, 
that  would  bring  them  too  near  the  ground.  It  is  essential  that 
the  wires  should  not  be  in  immediate  communication  with  the 
wood  of  the  poles,  which  is  a  conductor,  especially  when  it  is 
moist,  because  the  currents  would  be  diverted,  and  pass  into  the 
neighboring  wires,  or  penetrate  into  the  ground,  which  would  oc- 
casion great  disturbances.  In  order  to  insulate  them,  supporters 
are  employed  of  different  forms  of  baked  clay,  or  glazed  porcelain, 
which  are  fixed  upon  the  wooden  poles,  and  along  which  the  wires 
are  made  to  pass.  Upon  the  early  English  lines  a  wooden  arm  was 
fixed  by  iron  bolts  against  the  supporting  pole,  which  is  separated 
from  it  by  discs  of  earthen-ware ;  the  arm  itself  carries  four  or 
more  double  cones  of  earthen-ware,  retained  by  iron  clips.  The 
conducting-wires  traverse  one  of  these  cones,  and  are  thus  very 
well  insulated ;  a  double  system  of  wires  passes  before  and  behind 
the  pole,  which  is  covered  by  a  small  wooden  roof.  Each  winder 
carries  on  each  side  its  strainer,  composed  of  a  drum  and  axis 
with  wheel  and  ratchet;  the  ends  of  the  winder  are  insulated 
from  the  post  by  earthen-ware  discs,  and  the  wires  are  attached 
to  it  on  either  side ;  in  order  to  complete  the  circuit,  a  secondary 
wire  is  soldered  to  the  principal  wire,  on  either  side  of  the  post. 
At  each  winding-post,  only  half  the  wires,  in  most  cases,  are  in- 
terrupted; the  other  half  passes  the  post,  still  being  insulated 
from  it  by  means  of  the  double  cones  of  earthen-ware,  the  axes  of 


272  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

which  they  traverse.  It  follows  from  this  arrangement,  that,  since 
the  poles  are  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart,  each  wire  is  half  a  mile 
in  length. 

In  France  the  cost  of  constructing  aerial  lines,  including  the 
apparatus  in  the  offices,  is  in  general  about  500  francs  per  kilo- 
metre, or  nearly  $  200  per  mile.  This  includes  the  injection  of 
the  posts  with  sulphate  of  copper,  and  the  construction  of  the 
lines  in  the  most  durable  and  substantial  manner.  The  first  cost 
of  building  a  line  in  this  manner  is  about  twice  as  much  as  the 
cost  of  constructing  ours,  but  the  durability  of  these  lines  is  at 
least  ten  times  as  lasting  as  those  of  the  United  States. 

We  must  not  omit  to  notice  the  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  construction  of  lines,  as  well  as  in  the  instruments 
and  batteries,  since  the  first  line  was  built,  in  1844.  The  wire 
used  in  constructing  that  line  was  copper,  covered  with  cotton 
and  a  preparation  of  asphaltum,  it  being  supposed  necessary  to 
insulate  the  wires  from  the  atmosphere,  which  is  now  known  to 
facilitate  the  passage  of  the  current.  The  line  was  composed  of 
two  wires,  —  one  for  the  passage,  and  the  other  for  the  return 
current,  —  it  not  being  known  at  that  time  by  Professor  Morse 
that  the  earth  formed  an  admirable  medium  for  the  return  cur- 
rent, although  the  fact  was  well  known  by  European  electricians 
many  years  before,  as  we  have  shown,  from  the  experiments  of 
Gauss  and  Weber,  and  the  subsequent  use  of  the  earth  as  a  re- 
turn conductor  by  Steinheil  of  Munich. 

Since  1847,  iron  conducting-wires  have  been  used  instead  of 
copper,  which,  besides  being  much  more  expensive,  are  much 
more  liable  to  be  broken.  It  was  found  that  No.  16  copper  wire 
—  the  size  used  for  telegraphic  purposes  —  would  not  sustain  its 
own  weight  when  extended  upon  poles  two  hundred  feet  apart, 
but  gradually  drew  to  a  fine  thread,  and  then  of  course  broke. 
The  lines  between  Boston  and  New  York,  and  between  New 
York  and  Buffalo,  were  originally  constructed  with  copper  wire ; 
but  in  the  autumn  of  1846  the  copper  wires  between  Boston  and 
New  York  were  taken  down,  and  iron  erected  in  their  place ;  and 
in  the  succeeding  spring  the  same  change  was  made  upon  the 
New  York  and  Buffalo  lines. 


CONSTRUCTION   OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  273 

Harrison  Gray  Dyar  seems  to  have  demonstrated  the  practi- 
cability of  employing  iron  wires  for  telegraph  lines  as  early  as 
1828,  but  no  advantage  was  taken  of  this  discovery  by  our  coun- 
trymen, and  it  remained  for  M.  Steinheil  to  bring  it  into  general 
notice. 

Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  in  a  work  upon  the  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph, published  in  1846,  showed  that  two  or  more  lines  could 
be  worked  from  the  same  battery,  but  for  many  years  no  practi- 
cal use  was  made  of  this  very  important  discovery.  Until  1851, 
all  the  telegraph  lines  in  the  United  States  and  the  Canadas  used 
separate  batteries  for  each  wire,  and  I  believe  Boston  is  entitled 
to  the  credit  of  demonstrating  the  practicability  of  working  more 
than  one  line  from  the  same  battery. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Elliott,  the  manager  of  the  House  Printing  Tele- 
graph Office,  was  the  first,  we  believe,  to  try  the  experiment  upon 
a  line,  and  we  subsequently  worked  two  wires  upon  the  Mer- 
chants' Line  between  New  York  and  Boston,  from  the  Boston 
terminus,  six  months  before  the  discovery  was  generally  known. 
Now  there  are  ten  lines  working  out  of  the  same  battery  at  the 
American  Telegraph  Office  in  this  city,  —  seven  of  them  using 
the  Morse  instruments,  two  using  the  Combination,  and  one  the 
House.  The  electric  fluid,  leaving  the  same  battery,  travels  upon 
its  useful  errand  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  transmitting  de- 
spatches to  Maine,  New  Brunswick,  Vermont,  and  New  York, 
and  returning  by  a  short  cut  under  ground,  making  the  circuit, 
whether  long  or  short,  as  quick  as  thought.  Only  one  ground 
wire  is  used  for  all  the  lines,  and  only  one  wire  is  brought  from 
the  battery  to  the  operating  room,  where  all  the  lines  are  at- 
tached. This  using  one  battery  for  so  many  lines  is  a  vast  sav- 
ing in  the  expense  of  working  several  wires  from  the  same 
office.  With  a  battery  of  fifty  Grove's  cells,  no  perceptible  change 
is  observed  in  the  circuits,  in  consequence  of  a  less  or  greater 
number  of  wires  being  attached  to  the  battery,  providing  the 
lines  be  well  insulated. 

Two  things  only  seem  to  be  necessary :  —  1st.  That  a  large  con- 
ductor shall  be  brought  from  the  battery  to  the  operating  room, 
and  from  the  other  pole  of  the  battery  to  the  ground.  2d.  That 


274  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

there  shall  be  no  earth  connection,  by  which  a  return  can  be 
made,  within  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  unless  a  rheostat  of  suf- 
ficient resistance  be  interposed  to  make  the  circuit  equal  to  that 
number  of  miles. 

With  a  battery  of  fifty  Grove's  cells  attached  to  lines  well  in- 
sulated, the  number  of  circuits  which  may  be  worked  from  it 
without  undergoing  any  change  in  strength  or  steadiness  has  not 
yet  been  ascertained,  but  it  is  doubtless  very  great.  During 
heavy  storms,  however,  there  arise  serious  derangements  to  the 
circuits  from  the  escape,  and  the  operation  of  one  wire  will  in- 
terrupt that  of  others.  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  difficulty 
might  be  avoided  by  increasing  the  size  of  the  cells,  and  thus 
increasing  the  quantity  of  the  current,  without  adding  to  the 
intensity.  The  cause  of  the  change  in  the  steadiness  of  the  cur- 
rents being  due  to  the  close  proximity  of  the  escape,  and  the 
consequent  shortness  of  the  circuits,  it  is  supposed  this  might  be 
obviated  by  giving  them  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  such  extra 
demand.  The  subject  is  well  worthy  the  attention  of  our  tele- 
graphic managers,  and  we  hope  it  may  receive  proper  consid- 
eration. 

The  wires  which  run  out  of  the  office  in  Boston,  and  which  are 
connected  by  one  conducting-wire  of  large  diameter  with  the  bat- 
tery of  fifty  Grove  cells,  work  circuits  of  the  following  lengths  :  — 
New  York,  230  miles;  Rutland,  Vt.,  160  miles;  Calais,  Me., 
300  miles;  Springfield,  Mass.,  100  miles;  Portland,  Me.,  110 
miles  ;  Provincetown,  160  miles;  Rockport,  Cape  Ann,  50  miles; 
New  Bedford,  60  miles ;  Scituate,  Mass.,  (as  the  line  runs,)  50 
miles. 

By  the  introduction  of  a  rheostat  of  very  great  resistance,  an 
alarum  is  operated  by  throwing  the  main  battery  current  into  the 
earth,  without  affecting  the  working  of  the  instruments  in  the 
least.  This  alarum  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  messenger,  whose  duty  it  is  to  carry  the  despatches 
from  the  operator's  table  to  that  of  the  delivery  clerk.  As  may 
be  readily  surmised,  the  arrangement  is  rather  more  fanciful 
than  useful,  and  we  only  allude  to  it  here,  to  show  how  useful  the 
rheostat  may  prove,  in  cases  where  the  main  battery  is  used  upon 
a  very  short  circuit. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  275 

There  has  been  a  great  change,  since  the  first  introduction  of 
the  Morse  instrument,  in  the  construction  of  the  electro-magnets ; 
those  which  were  used  originally  were  very  large  and  awkward 
affairs,  weighing  thirty  or  forty  pounds,  —  they  are  now  made  so 
light  and  compact  that  they  can  be  carried  in  the  vest  pocket. 

With  the  Morse  system  of  telegraphy,  an  expert  operator  will 
send,  or  receive,  fifteen  hundred  words  an  hour,  —  or  between 
8  A.  M.  and  8  P.  M.  he  will  send  and  receive  three  hundred  de- 
spatches of  the  ordinary  length.  These  despatches,  at  the  rate  of 
twenty-five  cents  apiece,  would  amount  to  seventy-five  dollars,  — 
showing  that  the  business  is  a  profitable  one,  providing  there 
are  not  other  expenses  which  are  counting  up  very  fast  while  the 
operator  is  using  the  line  in  this  profitable  manner.  The  truth  is, 
the  business  is  very  profitable  upon  nearly  all  routes  in  this  coun- 
try where  the  lines  are  even  tolerably  well  managed.  Much 
money  has  been  wasted  in  expensive  lawsuits  between  rival 
patentees,  and  lines  working  under  them  have  suffered  in  conse- 
quence. Much  money  has  also  been  foolishly  wasted  by  incom- 
petent employes,  who  have,  in  consequence  of  their  ignorance 
of  the  science  of  electricity,  expended  large  sums  upon  use- 
less experiments,  especially  in  regard  to  insulation.  We  shall 
not  particularize,  but  we  have  now  in  recollection  one  line 
which  has  undergone  over  a  dozen  complete  changes  in  insula- 
tion, and  has  not  yet  arrived  at  a  system  worthy  of  the  name ! 
One  of  the  larger  companies  employed  an  ignorant  adventurer, 
who  possessed  no  knowledge  of  the  science  of  electricity,  or  of 
the  practice  as  applied  to  telegraphy,  except  what  he  gained  by  a 
few  months'  experience  in  one  of  our  American  telegraph  offices ; 
and  yet  this  man  was  paid  a  large  salary,  and  employed  for  some 
years  in  place  of  a  good  practical  electrician,  of  whom  there  are 
many  occupying  subordinate  positions  upon  nearly  all  the  lines  in 
this  country.  One  of  the  most  glaring  pieces  of  stupidity,  per- 
haps, which  this  company  had  to  endure,  was  the  expenditure  of 
some  $  15,000  in  the  purchase  of  iron  insulators,  coated  with  a 
thin  glazing  of  porcelain.  Of  course  a  couple  of  weeks'  use,  ex- 
posed to  the  influence  of  heavy  winds  and  the  strain  of  the  wire, 
broke  the  thin  coating,  and  thus  utterly  destroyed  all  insulating 
properties  in  the  so-called  insulator. 


276  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

Heretofore  very  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  amount  of 
knowledge  which  a  man  possessed  of  the  science  of  electricity,  in 
his  appointment  as  manager  or  superintendent  of  a  telegraph  line, 
it  seemingly  not  having  occurred  to  our  directors  that  the  electric 
telegraph  is  the  application  to  a  useful  purpose  of  a  science,  and 
that  at  least  a  limited  supply  of  knowledge  upon  the  subject 
would  be  useful.  It  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  hereafter  more 
attention  will  be  paid  to  this  matter,  as  well  as  to  the  construct- 
ing of  good,  substantial  lines  in  the  place  of  the  present  mere 
apologies  for  such. 

TELEGRAPH   IN  ITALY. 

The  most  surprising  examples  of  long  lines  of  wires  with- 
out intermediate  support  are  presented  on  the  telegraphic  line 
passing  north  and  south  through  Piedmont,  between  Turin  and 
Genoa.  There,  according  to  a  report  published  in  the  Pied- 
montese  Gazette,  in  the  course  of  the  line  passing  through 
the  district  intersected  by  the  chain  of  the  Bochetta,  the  en- 
gineer, M.  Bonelli,  had  the  boldness  to  carry  the  wires  from 
summit  to  summit  across  extensive  valleys  and  ravines,  at  im- 
mense heights  above  the  level  of  the  ground.  In  many  cases, 
the  distance  between  these  summits  amounted  to  more  than  half 
a  mile.  In  passing  through  towns,  this  line  is  carried  under- 
ground ;  emerging  from  which,  it  is  again  stretched  through  the 
air  from  crest  to  crest  of  the  maritime  Apennines ;  after  which 
it  finally  sinks  into  the  earth,  passing  through  Genoa  under  the 
streets,  and  terminating  in  the  Ducal  palace. 

It  is  stated  that  the  insulation  of  the  wires  on  this  picturesque 
line  has  been  so  perfect,  notwithstanding  the  adverse  circum- 
stances of  its  locality,  that  although  it  was  constantly  at  work  day 
and  night  during  the  first  winter,  no  failure  of  transmission  or 
extraordinary  delay  ever  occurred. 

Why  would  it  not  be  well  for  the  American  Company  to  con- 
struct a  line  between  the  most  important  points  of  their  vast 
territory  upon  the  above  principle  ?  —  using  stout  posts,  say  one 
thousand  feet  apart,  and  the  best  and  toughest  iron  wire  of  No.  8 
gauge.  This  would  avoid  all  difficulty  from  imperfect  insulation, 
even  in  the  most  stormy  weather. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  277 

TELEGRAPH  IN  INDIA. 

Dr.  O'Shaughnessy,  of  the  East  India  Company's  medical  de- 
partment, in  constructing  an  experimental  line  through  a  dis- 
tance of  eighty  miles  from  Calcutta,  used,  instead  of  wires,  iron 
rods,  —  being  the  only  obtainable  material.  These  were  fastened 
together  and  supported  on  bamboos. 

By  experiments  thus  made,  he  found  that  the  wires  employed  in 
Europe  would  be  quite  inadequate  to  the  Indian  telegraph,  for  no 
sooner  were  the  rods  mounted  on  their  bamboo  supports  in  India, 
than  flocks  of  that  largest  of  all  birds,  the  adjutant,  found  the  rods 
convenient  perches,  and  groups  of  monkeys  congregated  upon 
them ;  showing  clearly  enough  that  the  ordinary  wire  would  be 
insufficient  to  bear  the  strains  to  which  these  telegraphic  lines 
would  be  subjected.  It  was  found,  also,  that  not  only  must  the 
wire  be  stronger,  but  that  it  must  be  more  elevated,  to  allow 
loaded  elephants,  which  march  about,  regardless  of  roads  or  tele- 
graph lines,  to  pass  underneath. 

The  telegraphic  communication  thus  practically  effected  is 
subjected  to  attacks  to  which  the  lines  in  this  country  are  but 
little  exposed.  Storms  of  lightning  destroyed  the  coils,  and  hur- 
ricanes laid  prostrate  the  posts. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  railway  lines  in  India  is  the 
great  distan.ce  between  the  posts,  which  are  higher  and  stronger 
than  those  used  in  other  countries.  The  thick  wire  is  raised  on 
posts  an  eighth  of  a  mile  apart.  To  obtain  the  necessary 
strength  to  bear  the  strain,  the  posts  are  fixed  with  screw-piles. 
To  show  the  strength  of  the  wires  thus  extended,  a  rope  was, 
for  experiment,  hung  to  the  centre  of  the  wire  of  largest  span, 
and  a  soldier  climbed  up  it,  the  weight  of  his  body  producing 
but  a  slight  curvature.  The  common  deflection  arising  from 
the  weight  of  a  wire  of  a  furlong  span  does  not  exceed  eighteen 
inches. 

Dr.  O'Shaughnessy's  plan  of  underground  communication  is 
very  economical.  The  copper  wires,  coated  with  gutta-percha, 
are  inlaid  in  wooden  sleepers,  well  saturated  with  arsenic  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  white  ants,  and  laid  in  a  trench  two  feet  deep. 
24 


273      *  CONSTRUCTION  OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

An  underground  system  of  two  wires  may  thus  be  laid  down  for 
$175  per  mile. 

The  plan  adopted  for  joining  the  lengths  of  the  thick  gal- 
vanized wire  is  to  have  the  two  ends  turned,  so  as  to  link  into 
one  another,  which  are  then  introduced  into  a  mould,  like  a  bullet- 
mould,  and,  an  ingot  of  zinc  being  cast  over  them,  they  form  a 
most  substantial  joint,  and  perfect  metallic  connection. 

There  are  several  thousands  of  miles  of  line  in  operation  in 
India  at  the  present  time. 

REPAIRING    TELEGRAPH    LINES. 

After  the  proper  construction  of  the  line,  the  next  important 
consideration  is  the  keeping  of  it  in  repair.  For  this  purpose, 
there  should  be  provided  a  suitable  number  of  repairers,  sta- 
tioned at  regular  intervals  throughout  the  line,  whose  duty  should 
consist  in  repairing  the  districts  allotted  to  them.  These  repair- 
ers should  be  under  the  control  of  the  superintendent  solely,  and 
should  be  held  by  him  accountable  for  a  thoroughly  good  condi- 
tion of  the  posts,  wires,  insulators,  &c.  in  their  districts  at  all 
times. 

As  repairers  cannot  be  stationed  at  all  the  offices,  nor  be  always 
at  hand  when  a  break  occurs,  the  operators  in  the  intermediate 
offices  should  also  be  able  to  repair  breaks  and  other  derangements 
upon  the  line  whenever  they  occur  within  their  respective  sections, 
and  no  repairer  is  present.  For  this  purpose,  each  office  should 
have  on  hand  at  all  times  a  supply  of  wire  and  insulators  suffi- 
cient for  any  emergency,  and  should  also  be  provided  with  plyers, 
creepers  or  climbers,  and  straps  and  vices.  With  these  simple 
and  inexpensive  tools,  which  would  cost  only  about  ten  dollars, 
each  office  would  be  fully  equipped  for  any  emergency.  The 
repairers,  in  addition  to  the  tools  above  mentioned,  should  be 
provided  with  crowbars,  shovels,  axes,  hatchets,  and  light  ladders. 

In  the  large  towns,  a  certain  number  of  repairers,  according  to 
the  extent  of  lines  in  the  town  and  the  number  radiating  from  it, 
should  be  stationed  at  the  offices,  to  be  ready  at  all  times  to  repair 
breaks  which  may  occur  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  In  towns 
where  the  wires  are  attached  to  the  roofs  of  private  and  public 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  279 

buildings,  the  duties  of  such  repairers  are  not  only  of  an  impor- 
tant, but  a  responsible  character.  No  legislation  has  ever  been 
had  upon  the  subject ;  but  there  have  never  been  found  any  real 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  constructing  and  maintaining  the  wires 
upon  private  dwellings,  from  the  fact  that  almost  every  person 
has  an  interest  in  the  successful  operation  of  the  electric  tele- 
graph. Still,  the  importance  of  employing  efficient  and  gentle- 
manly persons  to  visit  private  dwellings  for  the  purpose  of 
making  repairs  must  be  obvious. 

In  London,  Paris,  and  most  other  European  cities,  the  wires 
are  laid  in  tubes  under  ground.  Besides  being  expensive,  this 
method  is  objectionable  on  account  of  the  less  satisfactory  opera- 
tion of  subterranean  as  compared  with  aerial  lines ;  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  nothing  may  occur  to  interrupt  the  good  feeling 
between  the  public  and  the  telegraph  companies  in  this  country 
in  this  particular.  » 

HOW  TO    LOCATE  A  BREAK,  ETC. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  how  operators  upon  telegraph 
lines  are  able  to  tell  where  a  break,  upon  a  lengthy  line,  is 
to  be  found.  This  is  done  by  an  investigation  called  testing. 
We  have  explained  that  electro-magnetism  is  produced  by  an 
electric  current ;  that  an  electric  current  is  obtained  by  uniting 
the  two  poles  of  a  galvanic  battery  by  means  of  a  conductor  ; 
and  that  the  earth,  from  its  immense  surface,  forms  not  only 
a  good  conductor,  but  the  very  best  conductor  in  the  world,  — 
a  conductor,  in  fact,  whose  resistance  is  nothing.  Each  end 
of  a  telegraph  line  is  always  connected  with  the  earth,  —  the 
earth  serving  instead  of  a  return  wire.  The  necessity  of  such  a 
return  conductor  will  be  seen  at  once,  by  starting  from  the  posi- 
tive pole  of  a  battery  in  Boston,  and  running  a  wire  to  New  York. 
Now  the  end  of  the  wire  in  New  York  and  the  negative  pole  in 
Boston  must  be  united  by  a  conductor,  else  there  will  be  no  cur- 
rent. The  earth  serves  as  this  conductor,  by  simply  running  a 
wire  from  the  negative  pole  in  Boston,  and  a  similar  one  from 
the  positive  pole  in  New  York,  to  the  earth.  The  following 
diagram  (Fig.  82)  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the  ar- 


280 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 


rangement  of  the  batteries,  instruments,  wires,  and  other  appa- 
ratus upon  a  long  telegraph  line. 

In  this  diagram  the  fluid  is  represented  as  flowing  from  the 
positive  pole  in  Boston,  through  the  wire  to  New  York,  thence 

through  the  battery  to  the 
earth,  thence  back  to  the  plate 
buried  in  the  earth  at  Boston, 
thence  through  the  wire  con- 
nected to  the  plate,  to  the  neg- 
ative pole  of  the  battery,  thus 
completing  the  circuit. 

We  have  spoken  here  of  the 
fluid  as  if  there  were  but  one, 
while  in  fact  we  know  there 
are  two,  and  that  the  negative 
fluid  flows  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion to  that  of  the  positive,  which 
is  represented  by  the  arrows. 
The  theory  which  generally  ob- 
tains in  regard  to  the  electrical 
fluid  is,  that  the  two  kinds,  posi- 
tive and  negative,  are  neutralized 
by  each  other  at  every  point 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of 
the  wire  conductor,  and  thus  by 
the  act  of  neutralization  create 
what  we  term  the  current.  The 
earth,  having  a  surplus  of  both 
kinds,  neutralizes  the  two  fluids 
without  loss,  presenting,  in  fact, 
the  same  result  as  if  the  two  ends 
To  illustrate :  —  Suppose  a  wire 
and  New  York  required  twenty 
Grove's  cups  to  produce  a  certain  influence  upon  an  electro-mag- 
net or  a  galvanometer,  —  the  termini  of  the  wire  connecting  with 
the  earth,  —  the  circuit  would  represent  460  miles,  —  230  being 
a  wire  conductor,  and  the  earth  supplying  the  remainder.  Now, 


Fig.  82. 


of   the   wire   were  united, 
extending    between    Boston 


CONSTRUCTION   OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 


281 


take  the  same  length  of  wire,  and  make  the  circuit  from  New 
York  to  Hartford  and  return,  and  the  length  of  the  circuit  will  be 
only  230  miles ;  but  it  will  require  precisely  the  same  amount  of 
electro-motive  force  in  the  battery,  or,  in  other  words,  the  same 
number  of  cups,  to  produce  the  same  effect  upon  the  galva- 
nometer, or  electro-magnet,  as  in  the  circuit  of  twice  the  length, 
in  which  the  earth  formed  a  part.  But  suppose  we  put  the  ter- 
mini of  the  wire  in  the  earth  at  Hartford  and  New  York,  instead 
of  forming  an  entire  metallic  circuit; 
then  we  require  but  half  the  electro- 
motive force  to  produce  the  same  re- 
sults upon  the  galvanometer.  This 
shows  that  the  resistance  to  conduction 
by  the  earth  is  null. 

As  the  current  in  passing  through 
the  wire  creates  magnetism  in  all  the 
helices  which  are  in  the  circuit,  their 
armatures  are  drawn  up ;  but  if  the  line 
breaks,  the  current  ceases,  the  armatures 
are  forced  back  by  their  springs,  and 
every  operator  at  once  becomes  cognizant 
of  the  fact  Each  operator  then  applies 
his  earth-wire  to  the  line  upon  each  side 
of  his  relay  magnet,  and,  if  he  obtains 
a  current,  he  knows  that  the  line  is  whole 
upon  that  side  ;  and  if  he  gets  none  upon 
the  other,  he  concludes  the  line  is  down, 
and  sends  out  a  repairer  to  put  it  in 
order. 

We  will  now  suppose  the  line  to  be 
broken  between  Hartford  and  New 
Haven ;  each  operator  at  his  respective 
station  puts  on  his  ground  wire,  and 
ascertains  at  once  upon  which  side  of 
him  the  break  has  occurred.  Hartford, 
ascertaining  the  break  to  be  west,  sends  his  repairer  in  that  direc- 
tion, with  orders  to  proceed  until  he  finds  the  break,  or  meets  the 
24* 


Fig.  83. 


282  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

repairer  from  New  Haven ;  New  Haven  sends  his  repairer  east, 
with  the  same  instructions. 

The  foregoing  diagram  (Fig.  83),  represents  the  manner  in 
which  a  circuit  is  divided  into  short  circuits,  when  a  break  has 
occurred.  In  the  diagram,  the  line  having  broken  between 
Hartford  and  New  Haven,  Hartford  puts  on  a  ground  wire  west- 
ward of  his  apparatus,  and  establishes  a  circuit  through  his 
ground  with  Boston ;  while  New  Haven  puts  on  a  ground  wire 
eastward  of  his  apparatus,  and  establishes  a  circuit  with  New 
York. 

Breaks  are  easily  found  and  repaired,  but  "  grounds,"  "  escapes," 
and  "  crosses "  often  require  much  labor  and  skill  to  locate. 
They  require  sometimes  to  be  tested  for  from  pole  to  pole. 

The  following  is  the  plan  most  convenient  for  establishing  the 
location  of  a  ground.  We  will  suppose  Boston  and  New  York 
to  be  working,  but  with  much  difficulty,  from  the  escape  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  electric  fluid  into  the  earth.  Boston  says,  "  Let  us 
test ;  please  open."  New  York  then  lifts  his  key,  and  thereby 
opens  the  circuit,  while  Boston  breaks  and  closes  his  connection 
with  the  wire,  and  finds  he  gets  a  strong  current  while  New 
York  is  open.  This  proves  that  there  is  a  serious  "ground" 
between  them.  Boston  then  calls  Stamford,  the  next  station,  and 
gets  him  to  open ;  then  Bridgeport,  then  New  Haven.  When 
New  Haven  opens,  he  gets  no  circuit,  and  thus  has  located  the 
difficulty  between  New  Haven  and  Bridgeport.  He  then  noti- 
fies them  of  the  fact,  and  each  sends  out  a  repairer,  who  meet, 
we  will  say,  at  Stratford,  half-way,  and  neither  has  found  any 
trouble ;  they  then  conclude  it  must  be  a  fault  in  the  cable  across 
the  Housatonic,  and  they  accordingly  disconnect  at  both  ends  of 
the  cable,  take  the  line  wire  in  one  hand  and  the  cable  in  the 
other,  and  apply  the  conducting  wire  of  the  cable  to  the  tongue ; 
if  there  is  a  leak  in  the  cable,  a  strong  or  weak  current  will 
be  found,  according  to  the  size  of  the  leak  and  the  strength  of  the 
battery. 

A  pocket  magnet  (Fig.  84)  is  a  very  convenient  instrument 
for  the  purpose  of  testing  upon  a  line,  as  you  can  converse  with 
the  operators,  when  necessary,  with  the  greatest  ease.  We  have 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 


283 


never  found  any  difficulty,  however,  in  conversing  by  means  of 
shocks  through  the  fingers  or  tongue,  without  any  apparatus. 


Repairing  the  wire  when  broken  is  a  very  simple  affair.  If 
broken  between  two  poles,  a  piece  of  wire  is  joined  to  the  longer 
part  sufficient  to  reach  to  the  next  pole.  The  repairer  then  puts 
on  his  creepers  or  spurs  and  mounts  the  pole,  taking  the  wire  in 
his  hand.  When  arrived  at  the  top,  he  draws,  with  his  hand,  as 
much  of  the  slack  as  he  can,  and  then  applies  a  vice  attached  to  a 
strap  to  the  wire,  and  placing  the  strap  around  the  top  of  the  pole, 
draws  in  the  remainder  of  the  slack,  and  joins  the  wire. 

We  notice,  in  a  work  recently  published  upon  the  telegraph,  a 


284  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

drawing  representing  a  man  standing  between  two  posts,  with  a 
pair  of  blocks  attached  to  the  two  ends  of  the  broken  wire ;  the 
man  is  pulling  away  at  a  rope,  the  supposition  being  that  he  is 
going  to  pull  the  wire  some  twenty-five  feet  up  in  the  air,  while 
in  fact,  he  is  of  course  doing  all  he  can  to  pull  it  to  the  ground ! 
The  writer  of  the  work  in  question  evidently  has  had  a  very 
limited  experience  in  telegraphing  in  any  capacity,  but  why  he 
should  imagine  that  by  means  of  a  pair  of  blocks  he  could  pull 
the  wire  up  into  its  place,  without  anything  for  the  blocks  to  rest 
upon,  is  more  than  we  can  divine. 


ENGLISH  SUBTERRANEAN  LINES. 

We  alluded  in  Part  IV.  (page  172)  to  the  subterranean  system 
in  operation  in  England,  but  we  did  not  treat  the  matter  so  fully 
as  its  importance  would  seem  to  demand. 

The  underground  system  has  been  adopted  in  the  streets  of 
London,  and  of  most  other  large  towns ;  upon  the  English  and 
Irish  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company's  lines,  to  a  great  extent; 
and  also  upon  the  wires  of  the  European  Submarine  Telegraph 
Company,  between  London  and  Dover.  The  methods  adopted 
for  the  preservation  and  insulation  of  these  underground  wires 
are  various.  The  wires  proceeding  from  the  central  telegraph 
station  in  London  were  originally  wrapped  with  cotton  thread, 
and  coated  with  a  mixture  of  tar,  resin,  and  grease.  This  coat- 
ing forms  a  perfect  insulator.  Nine  of  these  wires  were  then 
packed  in  a  half-inch  leaden  pipe,  and  four  or  five  such  pipes 
were  packed  in  an  iron  pipe  about  three  inches  in  diameter. 
These  iron  pipes  were  then  laid  under  the  foot  pavements,  along 
the  sides  of  the  streets,  and  were  thus  conducted  to  the  terminal 
stations  of  the  various  railways,  where  they  were  united  to  the 
lines  of  wire  supported  on  posts  along  the  sides  of  the  railways. 
More  recently  the  wires  deposited  in  the  underground  pipes  are 
insulated  altogether  by  means  of  a  coating  and  envelope  of  gutta- 
percha. 

The  Electric  Telegraph  Company  has  at  present  (1860)  no 
less  than  fifteen  miles  of  this  underground  piping  laid  along  the 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  285 

streets  of  London,  containing  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of 
gutta-percha-covered  conducting-wire. 

The  wires  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company  are  laid  and 
protected  in  the  following  manner.  Ten  conducting-wires  are 
enveloped  in  a  covering  of  gutta-percha,  so  as  to  be  completely 
separated  one  from  another.  Thus  prepared,  they  are  deposited 
in  a  square  creosoted  wooden  trough,  measuring  three  inches  in 
the  side,  so  that  nearly  a  square  inch  of  its  cross-section  is  al- 
lowed for  each  of  the  two  wires.  This  trough  is  deposited  on  the 
bottom  of  a  trench  cut  two  feet  deep  along  the  side  of  the  com- 
mon coach-road.  A  galvanized  iron  lid,  of  about  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  thick,  is  then  fastened  on  by  clamps  or  small  tenter-hooks, 
and  the  trench  filled  in. 

The  method  of  laying  the  wires  in  the  streets  adopted  by  this 
company  is  a  little  different.  In  this  case  iron  pipes  are  laid, 
but  they  are  split  longitudinally.  The  under  halves  are  laid 
down  in  the  trench,  and  the  gutta-percha-covered  wires  being 
deposited,  the  upper  halves  of  the  pipes  are  laid  on  and  secured 
in  their  places  by  means  of  screws  through  flanges  left  outside  for 
the  purpose. 

To  deposit  the  rope  of  gutta-percha-covered  wires  in  the  trough, 
it  is  first  coiled  upon  a  large  drum,  which  being  rolled  along  slowly 
and  uniformly  over  the  trench,  the  rope  of  wires  is  payed  off  easily 
and  evenly  into  its  bed. 

So  well  has  this  method  of  laying  the  wires  succeeded,  that  in 
Liverpool  the  entire  distance  along  the  streets  from  Tithe  Barn 
Railway  station  to  the  Telegraph  Company's  offices  in  Exchange 
Street  East  was  laid  in  eleven  hours;  and  in  Manchester,  the 
line  of  streets  from  the  Salford  Railway  station  to  Ducie  Street, 
Exchange,  was  laid  in  twenty-two  hours.  This  was  the  entire 
time  occupied  in  opening  the  trenches,  laying  down  the  telegraph 
wires,  refilling  the  trenches,  and  relaying  the  pavement. 

One  of  the  objections  against  the  underground  system  of  con- 
ducting wires  was,  that  while  they  offered  no  certain  guaranty 
against  the  accidental  occurrence  of  faulty  points  where  their  in- 
sulation might  be  rendered  imperfect,  and  where,  therefore,  the 
current  would  escape  to  the  earth,  they  rendered  the  detection  of 


286  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

such  faulty  points  extremely  difficult.  To  ascertain  their  position 
required  a  tedious  process  of  trial  to  be  made  from  one  testing 
post  to  another,  over  an  indefinite  extent  of  the  line. 

A  remedy  for  this  serious  inconvenience,  and  a  ready  and  cer- 
tain method  of  ascertaining  the  exact  place  of  such  points  of  fault, 
without  leaving  the  chief  or  other  station  at  which  the  agent 
may  happen  to  be,  has  been  invented  and  patented  by  the  Messrs. 
Bright  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company. 

Instruments  called  Galvanometers,  which  we  have  described  in 
the  first  part  (page  46,)  are  constructed,  by  which  the  relative 
intensity  of  electric  currents  is  measured  by  their  effect  in  deflect- 
ing a  magnetic  needle  from  its  position  of  rest.  The  currents 
which  most  deflect  the  needle  have  the  greatest  intensity,  and 
currents  which  equally  deflect  it  have  equal  intensities. 

The  intensity  of  a  current  diminishes  as  the  length  of  the  con- 
ducting-wire  —  measured  from  the  pole  of  the  battery  to  the  point 
where  it  enters  the  earth  —  is  augmented.  Thus,  if  this  length 
be  increased  from  twenty  miles  to  forty  miles,  the  intensity  of  the 
current  will  be  decreased  one  half. 

The  intensity  of  the  current  is  also  decreased  by  decreasing 
the  thickness  of  the  conducting-wire.  Thus  the  intensity,  when 
transmitted  on  a  very  thin  wire,  will  be  much  less  than  when 
transmitted  on  a  thick  wire  of  equal  length ;  but  the  thick  wire 
may  be  so  much  longer  than  the  thin,  that  its  length  will  compen- 
sate for  its  thickness,  and  the  intensity  of  the  current  transmitted 
upon  it  may  be  equal  to  that  transmitted  on  the  shorter  and  thin- 
ner wire. 

The  method  of  Messrs.  Bright  is  founded  upon  this  property  of 
currents.  A  fine  wire  wrapped  with  silk  or  cotton,  so  as  to  insu- 
late it  and  prevent  the  lateral  escape  of  the  current,  is  rolled  upon 
a  bobbin  like  a  spool  of  cotton  used  for  needlework.  A  consid- 
erable length  of  fine  wire  is  thus  comprised  in  a  very  small  bulk. 
-  The  wire  on  such  a  bobbin  being  connected  by  one  end  with 
the  wire  conducting  a  current,  and  by  the  other  end  with  the  earth, 
will  transmit  the  current  with  a  certain  intensity  depending  on  its 
length,  its  thickness,  and,  in  fine,  on  the  conducting  power  of  the 
metal  of  which  it  is  made. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  287 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  a  certain  length  of  the  wire  of  the  tele- 
graphic line  be  taken,  which  will  transmit  a  current  of  the  same 
intensity.  A  galvanometer  placed  in  each  current  will  then  be 
equally  deflected.  But  if  the  length  of  the  line-wire  be  less  or 
greater  than  the  exact  equivalent  length,  the.  galvanometer  will 
be  more  or  less  deflected  by  it  than  it  is  by  the  bobbin-wire,  ac- 
cording as  its  length  is  less  or  greater. 

It  is,  therefore,  always  possible  by  trial  to  ascertain  the  length 
of  line-wire  which  will  give  the  current  the  same  intensity  as 
that  which  it  has  upon  any  proposed  bobbin-wire. 

Bobbins  may  therefore  be  evidently  made  carrying  greater  or 
less  lengths  of  wire,  upon  which  the  current  will  have  the  same 
intensity  as  it  has  upon  various  lengths  of  line-wire. 

Suppose  then  a  series  of  bobbins  provided,  which  in  this  sense 
represent  various  lengths  of  line-wire  from  100  feet  to  300  miles, 
and  let  means  be  provided  of  placing  them  in  metallic  connection 
in  convenient  cases.  Such  an  apparatus  is  that  by  which  the 
Messrs.  Bright  detect  the  points  of  fault. 

Let  B  (Fig.  85)  be  the  station-battery;  G  a  galvanometer  upon 
the  line-wire;  J^the  point  of  fault  at  which  the  current  escapes  to 


the  earth,  in  consequence  of  an  accidental  de- 
fect of  the  insulation.  Let  a  wire  be  attached 
to  the  line-wire  of  the  station  at  (9,  and  be 
connected  with  the  first  of  a  series  of  bobbins 
such  as  are  described  above  ;  let  a  galvanom- 
eter, similar  to  (7,  be  placed  upon  it  at  G'. 
Let  a  metallic  arm,  A  C,  turning  on  the  point 
A)  be  so  placed  that  its  extremity,  (7,  shall 
move  over  the  series  of  bobbins,  and  that,  by 
Fig.  85.  moving  it  upon  the  centre,  A,  the  end,  (7,  may 

be  placed  in  connection  with  the  wire  of  any  bobbin  of  the  series. 

Let  A  be  connected  by  a  conducting-wire  with  the  earth  at  E' ; 


288  CONSTRUCTION   OF   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

the  negative  pole  of  the  battery,  B,  being  connected  with  the 
earth  at  E. 

The  apparatus  being  thus  arranged,  let  us  suppose  that  the 
wire  A  G  is  placed  in  connection  with  the  first  bobbin,  represent- 
ing 10  miles  of  the  line-wire,  and .  that  the  distance,  G  F,  of  the 
point  of  fault  is  145  miles.  In  that  case,  the  battery-current  will 
be  divided  at  0  between  the  two  wires  0  G  and  0  G',  but  the 
chief  part  will  flow  by  the  shortest  and  easiest  route,  and  the 
galvanometer  G'  will  be  very  much,  and  G  very  little  deflected. 
This  will  show  that  T^must  be  very  much  more  than  10  miles 
from  the  station.  The  arm  A  O  will  then  be  turned  successively 
from  bobbin  to  bobbin.  When  directed  to  the  second  bobbin, 
the  current  on  0  G'  will  have  the  same  intensity  as  if  it  flowed 
on  20  miles  of  line-wire  ;  when  turned  to  the  third,  the  same  as 
if  it  flowed  on  30  miles  of  line-wire;  and  so  on.  The  needle 
of  G1  will  therefore  continue  to  be  more  deflected  than  that  of 
G,  although  the  difference  will  be  less  and  less  as  the  number  of 
bobbins  brought  into  the  circuit  is  increased.  When  the  bobbins 
included  represent  140  miles,  G'  will  be  a  little  more,  and  when 
they  represent  150  miles  it  will  be  a  little  less  deflected  than  G, 
from  which  it  will  be  inferred  that  the  point  of  fault  lies  between 
the  140th  and  150th  mile  from  the  station.  A  closer  approxima- 
tion may  then  be  made  by  the  introduction  of  shorter  bobbins, 
and  this  process  may  be  continued  until  the  place  of  the  fault  has 
been  discovered  with  all  the  accuracy  necessary  for  practical  pur- 
poses. This  method  of  detecting  faults  is  the  one  adopted  in  the 
series  of  experiments  instituted  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the 
exact  locality  of  the  fault  in  the  Atlantic  Cable.  When  there 
is  more  than  one  fault,  and  only  a  partial  exposure  of  the  con- 
ducting-wire,  the  tests  become  more  complicated,  and  require 
considerable  skill  in  arriving  at  an  accurate  solution. 

The  intensity  of  the  electricity  that  travels  in  the  form  of  a 
current  through  a  closed  circuit  depends  upon  two  circumstances 
alone,  —  the  force,  or  forces,  that  produce  the  electricity,  and 
which  we  may  call  electro-motive  forces,  and  the  resistances  to 
conductibility  presented  by  all  the  circuit  taken  together.  This 
latter  element,  which  had  never  previously  been  taken  into  ac- 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  289 

count,  was  pointed  out  by  De  la  Rive,  in  1825.  In  an  important 
work,  which  appeared  in  1827,  M.  Ohm,  as  a  result  of  purely 
theoretical  speculation,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  force  of 
the  current  in  a  closed  circuit  is  directly  proportional  to  the  sum 
of  the  electro-motive  forces  that  are  in  activity  in  the  circuit, 
and  which  we  will  call  E,  and  inversely  proportional  to  the  total 
resistance,  or  the  sum  of  the  resistances  of  all  the  parts  of  the 
circuit,  which  we  will  designate  by  R ;  in  other  words,  that  the 
intensity  of  the  current,  I,  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  resistances ; 


A  law  which  arises  immediately  out  of  the  preceding  is,  that, 
if  we  increase  or  diminish  the  resistance  of  any  part  of  a  cir- 
cuit, the  total  intensity  of  the  current  diminishes  or  increases, 
all  other  circumstances  remaining  the  same,  in  a  proportion 
which  is  the  same  as  that  existing  between  the  resistance  added 
or  removed,  and  the  total  new  resistance  of  the  entire  circuit. 

If,  in    the    formula    /=  — ,  R  becomes  R  -|-  r  or  R  —  r, 

77  7? 

/  becomes    -=— —    or  ^ .       Calling  I'  the  intensity  in  the 

R  -\-  r         R  —  r 

former  case,  and  /"  the  intensity  in  the  latter,  we  have 
/:  /'  :  I"     -  —  :  R  _^_  ^  :  -^— -  =  -^  :  jr^  '  ^7717  '> 

whence  we  deduce, 

/—  r  :  1=  r  :  R  +  r,  and  /"  —  /:  /=  r  :  R  —  r ; 
namely,  that  the  diminution  of  intensity  is  to  the  primitive  inten- 
sity as  the  added  resistance,  r,  is  to  the  new  total  resistance, 
R-\-r\  and  the  increase,  /" — /,  is  to  the  primitive  intensity 
as  the  suppressed  resistance,  r,  is  to  the   new  total  resistance, 


THE  TELEGRAPH  LINES  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  first  line  of  electric  telegraph  constructed  in  the  United 
States  was  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  in  May,  1844, 
over  a  distance  of  40  miles.     It  was  then  extended  to  Philadel- 
25  s 


290  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

phia  and  New  York,  over  a  distance  of  250  miles.  It  reached 
Boston  in  1845,  and  became  the  great  line  of  the  North,  from 
which  branched  two  others;  —  one,  of  the  length  of  1,000  miles, 
from  Philadelphia  to  Harrisburg,  Lancaster,  Pittsburg,  Colum- 
bus, Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  St.  Louis ;  the  other,  of  the  length 
of  1,300  miles,  from  New  York  to  Albany,  Troy,  Utica,  Roch- 
ester, Buffalo,  Erie,  Cleveland,  Chicago,  and  Milwaukie. 

A  fourth  line  was  constructed  from  Buffalo  to  Lockport,  Queens- 
town,  the  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  To- 
ronto, Kingston,  Montreal,  Quebec,  and  Halifax,  over  an  extent 
of  1,395  miles. 

Two  lines  were  constructed  south;  —  one  from  Cleveland  to 
New  Orleans,  by  Cincinnati ;  the  other  from  Washington  to  New 
Orleans,  by  Fredericksburg,  Charleston,  Savannah,  and  Mobile. 
The  first  is  1,200  miles  long ;  the  second,  1,700  miles. 

The  line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  is  the  only  one 
constructed  under  governmental  patronage,  the  remainder  having 
been  projected  by  private  enterprise,  the  patentee  being  allowed 
one  half  the  stock  for  the  use  of  the  patent,  as  his  share  of  the 
investment.  The  capital  invested  in  the  Morse  lines  alone  up  to 
January  1,  1850,  was  $400,000,  exclusive  of  the  patent-right, 
upon  which  Mr.  Morse  up  to  that  time  had  received  some 
$  30,000. 

At  a  very  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  electric  telegraph 
in  the  United  States,  a  misunderstanding  occurred  between  the 
Morse  patentees  and  Mr.  Henry  O'Reilly,  a  contractor  under 
them,  the  result  of  which  was  that  rival  lines  were  constructed 
throughout  the  country  before  the  system  had  been  sufficiently 
developed  to  be  remunerative,  even  without  such  competition. 

The  invention  of  the  letter-printing  telegraph  by  Mr.  House, 
in  1846,  and  the  introduction  of  the  electro-chemical  telegraph 
of  Mr.  Bain  into  this  country,  in  1849,  greatly  facilitated  the 
construction  of  competing  lines. 

The  first  line  operating  under  the  House  patent  was  completed 
in  March,  1849,  by  the  New  Jersey  Magnetic  Telegraph  Com- 
pany (since,  the  New  York  and  Washington  Printing  Telegraph 
Company)  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  City.  They  were 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  291 

incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $  100,000. 

The  Boston  and  New  York  Telegraph  Company,  using  the 
same  patent,  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  and 
was  followed  by  one  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  and  subsequently 
to  St.  Louis  and  Chicago. 

During  the  year  1849,  which  was  very  prolific  in  the  produc- 
tion of  competing  lines,  the  Bain  patent  was  introduced  upon 
lines  extending  between  New  York  and  Boston,  New  York  and 
Buffalo,  and  New  York  and  Washington  ;  and  in  the  succeeding 
year,  upon  lines  extending  between  Boston  and  Montreal,  and 
Boston  and  Portland. 

In  1851,  there  were  seven  Bain  lines  in  operation  in  the 
United  States  having  over  2,000  miles  of  wire  ;  eight  House  lines, 
having  about  3,000  miles  of  wire ;  and  sixty-seven  Morse  lines, 
having  20,000  miles  of  wire. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company, 
having  lines  extending  between  New  York  and  Washington,  and 
the  Bain  company  having  lines  over  the  same  route  were  con- 
solidated ;  and  in  the  succeeding  spring  the  Morse  and  Bain  lines 
extending  between  New  York  and  Boston  were  united  under  one 
company.  The  union  of  these  lines  was  followed  by  that  of  the 
New  York  and  Buffalo  Morse  and  Bain  lines,  and  subsequently 
by  those  of  the  House  company  between  these  points.  The 
lines  of  the  Rhode  Island  Telegraph  Company,  extending  from 
Worcester  to  Providence,  Fall  River,  Taunton,  New  Bedford, 
Warren,  and  Bristol,  were  sold,  March  1, 1853,  to  the  New  York 
and  New  England  Union  Telegraph  Company  (the  Morse  and 
Bain  united)  for  $  5,000.  The  cost  of  these  lines,  including  the 
patent,  was  $  20,000. 

In  the  autumn  of  1853,  all  the  leading  telegraph  lines  in  the 
West,  South,  and  Northwest  were  united  in  business  interests. 
Among  these  are  the  New  Orleans  and  Ohio  line,  extending 
from  New  Orleans  to  Pittsburg ;  the  People's  line,  from  New 
Orleans  to  Louisville;  the  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and  Pittsburg 
line ;  the  Western  line,  from  Wheeling  and  Pittsburg  to  Balti- 
more and  Washington  City ;  and  the  lines  between  Buffalo  and 


292  CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

Chicago,  —  all  direct  parties  to  the  contract  securing  these  ar- 
rangements. 

The  New  York  and  Erie  Telegraph  line,  built  by  E.  Cornell 
and  J.  J.  Speed,  was  also  united  by  a  lease  with  the  New  York 
and  Buffalo  Morse  company. 

In  1853,  therefore,  out  of  the  large  number  of  competing  lines 
which  had  been  constructed,  there  remained  only  the  House  lines 
between  New  York  and  Washington,  and  New  York  and  Boston, 
—  all  the  others  having  been  consolidated  with,  or  sold  out  to, 
rival  lines. 

As  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  electric  telegraph  opened 
at  this  period,  it  is  perhaps  worth  while  to  look  over  the  scanty 
data  at  hand,  and  ascertain  how  the  lines  were  paying. 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company, 
extending  between  Washington  and  New  York,  for  the  year  end- 
ing June,  1852,  we  find  that  the  number  of  messages  transmitted 
during  the  year  was  253,857,  the  receipts  upon  which  amounted 
to  $  103,232.37. 

In  1847,  the  receipts  of  this  company,  which  was  the  first 
organized  in  the  country,  were  $32,810,'  in  1848,  $52,252 ;  in 
1849,  $  63,367 ;  in  1850,  $  61,383  ;  in  1851,  $  67,737. 

In  January,  1852,  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company  became 
possessed  of  the  wires  of  the  Bain  line,  by  which  its  facilities 
were  increased  and  its  business  augmented  beyond  what  it  would 
have  been  without  such  facilities. 

In  1848,  this  company  paid  six  per  cent  dividend ;  in  1849, 
nine  per  cent;  in  1850,  two  per  cent;  in  1851,  two  per  cent; 
in  1852,  nine  per  cent,  —  upon  a  capital  of  $370,000. 

The  Maine  Telegraph  Company  constructed  a  line  extending 
from  Portland  to  Calais,  Maine,  306  miles  in  length,  in  1848, 
which  has  proved  one  of  the  most  profitable  lines  in  the  world. 
From  the  date  of  its  completion  until  its  lease  to  the  American 
Company  in  1855,  it  always  paid  a  handsome  dividend,  generally 
twenty  per  cent  per  annum,  and  in  1853  the  surplus  earnings  en- 
abled the  company  to  purchase  the  lines  between  Portland  and 
Boston,  when  fifty  per  cent  in  stock  Was  divided  among  the 
stockholders. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  293 

In  1855,  the  company  voted  to  lease  their  lines  for  a  term  of 
years  to  the  American  Telegraph  Company,  receiving  for  rent 
ten  per  cent  per  annum  upon  the  capital  stock.  The  American 
Telegraph  Company  also  leased  the  New  Brunswick  line,  extend- 
ing from  Calais,  Maine,  to  Sackville,  N.  B. ;  the  Northern  line, 
extending  between  Boston  and  Burlington,  Vt. ;  the  Troy  and 
Canada  Junction  line,  extending  between  Troy  and  Montreal ; 
and  the  Sandy  Hook  line,  extending  between  New  York  City  and 
the  Highlands.  They  also  purchased,  in  1855,  the  House  lines 
extending  beween  Boston  and  New  York,  with  a  branch  from 
Springfield,  Mass.,  to  Albany,  N.  Y. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1860,  however,  they  accom- 
plished a  movement  which  has  created  quite  a  revolution  in  tele- 
graphic affairs  upon  the  seaboard  routes.  This  is  nothing  less 
than  the  consolidation  of  all  the  lines  from  Sackville,  N.  B.  to 
New  Orleans ;  thereby  acquiring  the  exclusive  use  of  all  the 
patents  of  the  various  telegraphic  apparatus  in  use. 

This  company  has  over  25,000  miles  of  wire  in  operation,  rep- 
resenting an  aggregate  capital  of  $  1,500,000. 

The  officers  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company  consist  of  a 
President,  Treasurer,  Secretary,  and  a  board  of  twelve  Directors.. 
The  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  lines  is  entrusted  to  an 
Executive  Committee  consisting  of  three  members  of  the  Board 
of  Directors.  The  company  employs  twelve  superintendents,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  operators  and  clerks,  six  hundred  messengers, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  repairers. 

A  most  liberal  and  commendable  spirit  has  been  exhibited  by 
this  company  towards  its  employes,  in  the  payment  of  remunera- 
tive salaries,  as  well  as  in  providing  a  corps  of  operators  and 
clerks  in  each  office  sufficient  for  the  easy  performance  of  its 
duties.  The  company  is  also  liberally  expending  large  sums  of 
money  in  rebuilding,  and  thoroughly  insulating,  its  lines,  so  that 
in  the  course  of  a  few  months  the  lines  along  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board will  rival  in  excellence  those  of  any  part  of  the  world. 

It  is  understood  that  the  leading  telegraph  companies  of  Amer- 
ica have  entered  into  an  arrangement  for  mutual  protection,  the 
object  being  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  rival  lines  over  the 
25* 


294  CONSTRUCTION   OF  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

routes  occupied  by  the  present  companies.  By  this  agreement, 
each  company  pledges  itself,  in  case  competing  lines  are  con- 
structed over  any  route  already  occupied,  to  share  the  expense 
of  crushing  out  such  rival  line,  by  putting  the  tolls  upon  the  route 
in  question  at  a  mere  nominal  sum,  and  keeping  them  so  as  long 
fts  the  competing  line  exists. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  one  company  can  do  the  tele- 
graphic business  between  any  points  upon  the  same  route  much 
cheaper  and  better  than  two  or  more.  There  is  a  striking  anal- 
ogy between  the  telegraph  and  the  mail  service,  and  no  one  will 
deny  that  one  company  can  manage  the  postal  service  better  than 
two.  It  is  therefore  unquestionably  for  the  interest  of  all  who 
have  occasion  to  use  the  wires,  —  and  who  has  not  ?  —  that  they 
be  managed  by  a  capable,  liberal,  and  high-minded  company,  — 
and  such,  we  are  confident,  the  public  will  find  in  the  American 
Company. 

It  is  announced  in  the  journals  of  the  day,  that  a  rival  line  is 
about  to  be  constructed  between  Boston  and  New  York ;  and  if 
the  announcement  is  correct,  we  may  shortly  expect  cheap  tele- 
graphic facilities  between  these  important  points. 

"Without  wishing  to  enter  into  any  discussion  as  to  the  necessity 
of  more  telegraphic  facilities  in  this  country,  we  feel  it  our  duty 
to  suggest  to  gentlemen  who  may  feel  inclined  to  invest  their 
money  in  telegraphic  schemes,  that  they  may  find  them  more 
seductive  than  remunerative.  Few  of  the  stockholders  who  have 
contributed  the  millions  of  dollars  expended  in  constructing  tel- 
egraph lines  in  this  country  have  ever  received  any  return  for 
their  investment,  and  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  chances  in 
the  future  are  not  very  promising.  There  is  one  institution,  how- 
ever, able  to  construct  lines  of  telegraph,  and  to  maintain  them 
against  any  combination  which  can  be  brought  against  it,  namely, 
the  Associated  Press.  This  association  pays  to  the  various  tele- 
graph companies  about  $  200,000  per  annum,  —  a  sum  sufficient 
to  maintain  a  line  of  telegraph  from  Halifax  to  New  Orleans. 
The  public,  therefore,  need  not  fear  an  odious  monopoly ;  for 
whenever  the  existing  arrangements  should  lead  to  such  a  re- 
sult, the  Press,  having  the  means,  will  not  long  delay  the  appli- 
cation of  a  remedy. 


PART   VIII. 

ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  UPON  TELEGRAPH 

LINES. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

ATMOSPHERIC    ELECTRICITY. 

TRANSMISSION  upon  the  electric  telegraph  lines  is  not  always 
as  regular  as  could  be  desired,  even  when  the  wires  are  in 
good  order  and  well  insulated.  We  shall  examine,  in  this  chap- 
ter, the  different  influences  which  affect  the  operation  of  the 
apparatus. 

The  electric  atmosphere  is  the  most  frequent  cause  which  de- 
ters or  prevents  transmission.  During  storms,  we  see  that  the 
apparatus  works  irregularly,  interrupting  the  passage  of  strong 
currents  instantaneously,  and  often  produces  upon  the  apparatus 
in  the  offices,  between  metallic  points,  bright  sparks  ;  the  arma- 
tures of  the  electro-magnets  are  drawn  up  with  great  force,  and 
the  wires  and  other  metallic  substances  about  the  instruments 
fused.  "We  observe  also,  but  more  rarely,  currents,  which  con- 
tinue for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  that  prevent  all  working. 

The  theory  of  atmospheric  electricity  explains  equally  well  all 
these  phenomena;  —  free  electricity,  which  is  manifested  during 
thunder-storms,  being  the  cause  of  the  former;  and  electricity  of  a 
lower  tension,  manifested  during  a  display  of  the  aurora-borealis, 
causing  the  latter. 

In  order  to  comprehend  this  matter  fully,  before  going  into  the 
details  of  the  effects  upon  the  lines,  let  us  examine  the  causes 
and  nature  of  atmospheric  electricity. 


296     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

We  must  give  to  Franklin  the  credit  of  establishing  the  proof 
that  the  phenomena  of  lightning,  of  thunder,  and  of  the  effects 
of  lightning  are  due  to  electricity.  Before  him,  the  identity 
that  exists  between  these  electric  phenomena  had  been  greatly 
suspected.  After  having  produced,  for  the  first  time,  the  electric 
spark,  Doctor  Wall  immediately  compared  it  to  claps  of  thunder. 
The  analogy  was  striking,  and  philosophers  endeavored  to  estab- 
lish it  by  approximations  more  or  less  ingenious.  But  all  passed 
away  in  reasoning,  from  which  nothing  could  be  concluded, 
because  in  physics  it  is  experiment  alone  which  must  decide- 
Franklin  therefore  entertained  the  bold  thought  of  going  to  seek 
for  electricity  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  clouds.  As  the  question 
was  only  to  convey  a  body  into  the  region  of  thunder,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  employing  the  kite  ;  and,  after  some  fruitless 
attempts,  he  succeeded  in  drawing  from  the  extremity  of  the 
string  which  held  the  kite,  that  was  thrust  into  the  midst  of  the 
clouds,  a  bright  spark,  which  was  followed  by  several  others. 

The  air  under  a  perfectly  serene  sky  is  constantly  positive,  but 
this  positive  electricity  is  not  uniformly  distributed  in  the  atmos- 
phere; it  is,  it  is  true,  at  very  nearly  the  same  intensity  in  a 
horizontal  stratum,  but  stronger  in  the  upper  strata,  and  stronger 
still  as  we  rise  higher.  At  the  surface  of  the  ground  the  elec- 
tricity is  null ;  it  does  not  begin  to  be  sensible  in  the  open  coun- 
try until  about  a  yard  and  a  half  above  the  ground.  When 
there  are  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  trees,  buildings,  in  a  word, 
elevated  bodies,  the  height  at  which  the  air  begins  to  give  signs 
of  positive  electricity  becomes  greater.  It  evidently  seems  that 
the  air  and  the  earth  are  charged  with  contrary  electricities,  which 
recombine  continually  in  the  lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere,  either 
directly  or  by  the  intervention  of  bodies  placed  upon  the  surface 
of  the  ground. 

Observations,  with  the  view  of  proving  the  annual  variations 
of  the  electricity  of  the  air,  were  made  each  day  about  noon, 
and  commenced  in  August,  1844.  The  results  of  each  year  per- 
fectly accord,  and  may  be  summed  up  in  the  following  man- 
ner: —  1st.  Atmospheric  electricity,  considered  in  a  general  man- 
ner, attains  its  maximum  in  January,  then  decreases  progressively 


ATMOSPHERIC  ELECTRICITY.  297 

until  the  month  of  June,  which  presents  a  minimum  of  intensity  ; 
it  increases  during  the  following  months  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
2d.  The  maximum  and  the  minimum  of  the  year  have  for  their 
respective  values  605°  and  47°,  so  that  the  electricity  in  January 
is  thirteen  times  as  energetic  as  in  the  month  of  June. 

The  difference  between  the  maximum  and  minimum  is  much 
more  sensibly  felt  during  serene  weather  than  during  cloudy 
weather.  During  the  different  months,  the  electricity  of  the  air 
is  more  powerful  when  the  sky  is  serene  than  when  it  is  cloudy, 
except  toward  the  months  of  June  and  July,  when  the  electricity 
attains  a  maximum,  the  value  of  which  is  nearly  the  same,  what- 
ever be  the  state  of  the  sky. 

The  electric  intensity  observed  during  fogs  has,  at  a  mean, 
almost  exactly  the  same  value  as  that  observed  during  snows. 
This  value  is  very  high,  and  corresponds  to  the  mean  maxima 
observed  for  the  former  and  the  latter  months  of  the  year. 

A  very  remarkable  fact,  which  appears  from  recent  observation, 
is  that  moisture  acts  in  a  manner  altogether  different  in  the  cold 
months  and  in  the  hot  ones  ;  it  increases  the  electricity  in  the 
winter  months,  it  diminishes  it  in  the  summer  months.  The 
fundamental  fact  is,  that  humidity  acts  in  two  manners,  the  effects 
of  which  tend  to  oppose  each  other.  On  the  one  hand,  it  facili- 
tates the  escape  of  the  electricity  accumulated  in  the  upper  re- 
gions of  the  atmosphere  to  the  stratum  in  which  the  observation 
is  made ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  facilitates  the  escape  into  the 
ground  of  the  electricity  which  this  stratum  possesses :  thus,  on 
the  one  hand  it  increases  the  intensity  of  the  electric  manifesta- 
tions of  the  instrument,  on  the  other  hand  it  diminishes  them. 

According  to  M.  Peltier,  the  terrestrial  globe  is  completely 
negative,  and  inter-planetary  space  positive ;  the  atmosphere 
itself  has  no  electricity,  and  is  only  in  a  passive  -state ;  so  that 
the  effects  observed  are  due  to  the  relative  influence  of  these 
two  great  magazines  of  electricity.  With  regard  to  ourselves, 
without  discussing  for  the  present  this  opinion,  we  are  disposed 
to  assume  that  the  terrestrial  globe  possesses,  at  least  on  its  solid 
part,  an  excess  of  negative  electricity,  and  that  it  is  the  same 
with  bodies  placed  at  its  surface ;  but  it  appears  to  us  to  follow, 


298     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

irom  the  various  observations  made,  that  the  atmosphere  itself  is 
positively  electrized;  this  positive  electricity  evidently  arises 
from  the  same  source  as  the  negative  of  the  globe.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  it  is  essentially  in  the  aqueous  vapors  with  which  the 
atmosphere  is  always  more  or  less  filled  that  it  resides,  rather 
than  in  the  particles  of  the  air  itself ;  but  it  does  not  the  less 
exist  in  the  atmosphere. 

STORMS,  AND  ACCOMPANYING  ELECTRIC  PHENOMENA. 

When  the  sky  is  not  serene,  the  normal  electric  state  of  the  at- 
mosphere suffers  notable  disturbances.  The  formation  of  a  cloud 
or  of  a  fog  is  always  accompanied  with  a  change  of  distribution 
in  the  electricity  of  the  stratum  of  air  in  which  this  formation 
takes  place.  It  is  probable  that  the  positive  electricities  with 
which  each  particle  of  vapor  is  charged  are  united  in  the  globule 
formed  by  the  reunion  of  several  of  these  particles  at  the  moment 
when  their  precipitation  takes  place.  The  globules  are  themselves^ 
as  we  know,  so  many  small  spherical  balloons,  in  which  a  small 
pellicle  of  water  serves  as  an  envelope  to  the  interior  air ;  now,  it 
is  this  stratum  of  water  that  possesses  all  the  positive  electricity 
which  was  distributed  among  .the  multitude  of  particles  of  vapor 
which  have  served  towards  its  formation. 

When  a  storm-cloud,  and  consequently  one  powerfully  elec- 
trized, approaches  the  earth,  it  decomposes  by  induction  the 
natural  electricity  of  all  the  more  or  less  conductive  parts  that 
are  at  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Its  action  may  be  arrested 
there,  if  the  wind  brings  near  it  another  cloud,  endowed,  natu- 
rally or  by  induction,  with  an  electricity  contrary  to  its  own  ; 
the  explosion  then  takes  place  between  the  two  clouds,  and  the 
portion  of  terrestrial  surface  whose  electricity  has  been  decom- 
posed reverts  to  the  natural  state.  But  it  may  happen,  also, 
that  the  discharge  takes  place  between  the  cloud  and  the  ground ; 
in  this  case  it  will  be  the  objects  that  are  nearest  to  the  cloud, 
among  those  whose  natural  electricity  is  susceptible  of  decompo- 
sition, which  will  serve  to  transmit  this  discharge,  and  which, 
consequently,  will  be  struck  by  lightning. 


ATMOSPHEKIC  ELECTRICITY.  299 

Whatever  may  be  the  place  where  the  lightning  falls,  it  tends 
in  preference  towards  the  conducting  bodies  that  are  found  there, 
and  towards  metals.  Thus  lightning,  in  falling  upon  a  house, 
sometimes  carries  away  all  the  gildings  that  are  found  there, 
without  injuring  any  of  the  inmates ;  it  may  traverse  the  metal 
rods  and  wires  of  a  house  without  leaving  any  other  trace  of  its 
passage  than  the  fusion  of  the  wires,  whilst  the  conducting-rods, 
being  larger,  have  suffered  no  alteration ;  then  it  may  divide,  and 
traverse  the  barrel  of  a  fowling-piece  placed  against  a  wall,  which 
itself  remains  intact,  whilst  the  stock  is  broken  and  the  wall 
pierced  where  the  end  of  the  barrel  was  resting  against  "it.  It 
suffices  that  there  be  masses  of  iron,  clasps,  nails,  disseminated 
in  walls,  in  order  that  the  lightning  shall  direct  itself  there,  some- 
times tearing  them  out,  but  more  frequently  producing  in  the 
walls  themselves  damage  more  or  less  considerable. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  that,  the  clouds  which  are  above  the  tele- 
graph line  being  electrized  by  positive  electricity,  and  the  earth  to 
which  the  wires  are  connected  being  electrized  by  negative  elec- 
tricity, the  wires  serve  as  conductors,  through  which  the  two 
electricities  are  neutralized,  and  an  equilibrium  established. 

If  the  wires  were  large  enough  to  convey  to  the  earth  all  the 
electricity  which  accumulates  upon  them,  and  the  different  parts 
of  the  apparatus  were  also  sufficiently  large,  there  could  arise 
from  such  discharges  no  serious  consequences  beyond  the  tempo- 
rary interruption  of  the  working  of  the  line  ;  but  as  the  wires  of 
the  electro-magnets  are  very  small,  and  incapable  of  containing  a 
large  amount  of  electricity,  they  are  always  melted,  or  burned 
off,  whenever  a  great  discharge  is  permitted  to  reach  them. 

Formerly  the  line  wire  was  connected  with  the  inner  wire  of 
the  helices,  and  whenever  there  was  a  considerable  discharge  of 
atmospheric  electricity,  the  helices  exploded,  sometimes  causing 
serious  effects. 

In  the  summer  of  1846,  the  helices  in  the  telegraph  office  at 
New  Haven  were  exploded  in  this  manner,  and  the  pieces  were 
thrown  with  great  violence  across  the  room,  and  struck  the  walls, 
leaving  marks  which  were  not  effaced  for  many  years.  The  re- 
port of  the  explosion  was  distinctly  heard  an  eighth  of  a  mile  off. 


300       ELECTEICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

In  the  summer  of  1851,  an  atmospheric  discharge  came  into 
the  office  upon  the  Chemical  line  in  Boston,  which  melted  a  hole 
into  the  brass  disc,  and  drove  the  iron  pen-wire  into  it,  completely 
fastening  it  there  as  firmly  as  if  it  had  been  brazed.  The  sky 
at  the  time  was  perfectly  serene,  and  the  discharge  had  traversed 
the  line  thirty  miles,  —  the  thunder-storm  being  at  that  distance 
from  the  city,  and  having  shattered  several  poles  at  the  precise 
time  when  the  discharge  occurred  in  the  office.  There  was  no 
electro-magnet  in  the  circuit  in  this  instance,  and  therefore  there 
was  no  particular  injury  done  to  any  part  of  the  apparatus. 

The  line  wires  now  connect  with  the  outer  wires  of  the  heli- 
ces, and  whenever  a  discharge  occurs,  it  generally  burns  off  the 
small  copper  wire  before  reaching  the  inner  part  of  the  coils,  and 
they  are  thus  rarely  ever  seriously  injured. 

There  have  been  several  kinds  of  lightning-arresters,  or  pa- 
ratonneres,  as  the  French  call  them,  and  they  all  serve  a  very 
good  purpose. 

One  plan  is  to  place  two  large,  flat  surfaces  of  brass  together 
(Fig.  86),  with  a  thin  sheet  of  oiled  silk,  or  gutta-percha,  or  even 


Fig.  86. 

paper,  between,  and  to  connect  one  piece  of  the  brass  with  the  line 
wire  and  one  with  the  earth.  The  atmospheric  electricity,  being  of 
such  high  tension,  prefers  to  pass  through  the  thin  sheet  of  paper, 
and  thus  reach  an  excellent  conductor  to  the  earth,  rather  than 


ATMOSPHERIC  ELECTRICITY.  301 

through  the  small  wire  conductor  which  leads  to  the  apparatus 
(Fig.  87). 


Fig.  87. 

Another  plan  is  to  line  a  small  wooden  box  with  sheets  of  tin, 
which  is  then  filled  with  iron  filings.  The  sheets  of  tin  are  con- 
nected with  the  earth  ;  and  the  line  wire,  after  being  covered 
with  oiled  silk,  is  passed  through  the  iron  filings.  The  atmos- 
pheric electricity  is  attracted  by  the  myriads  of  fine  points  pre- 
sented by  the  filings,  and  is  thus  carried  off  to  the  earth.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  the  galvanic  electricity  is  of  so  low 
a  tension  as  to  require  a  conductor  without  solution  of  contact, 
and  is  thus  entirely  unaffected  by  the  filings  or  the  brass  plates, 
which  are  not  in  contact. 

Another  excellent  plan  is  to  wind  around  a  brass  cylinder, 
which  is  connected  with  the  earth,  a  dozen  feet  of  silk-covered 
wire  of  very  small  size ;  the  atmospheric  electricity  would  pass 
the  light  barrier  of  the  silk  and  into  the  earth,  while  the  galvanic 
currents  would  not  be  affected. 

We  have  found  a  few  feet  of  small  wire,  intervening  between  the 
air-lines  and  the  submarine  cables,  an  effectual  remedy  against 
atmospheric  injury.  Some  have  used  other  kinds  of  lightning- 
arresters  for  this  purpose.  It  is  rather  difficult  to  keep  any  kind 
of  apparatus  dry  in  so  exposed  a  situation,  and  therefore  for  this 
purpose  we  give  the  preference  to  the  simple  coil  of  silk-covered 
wire. 

Several  other  inventions  have  been  contrived  for  protect- 
ing telegraphic  apparatus  from  the  effects  of  atmospheric  elec- 
tricity. Among  the  number,  we  will  mention  the  following, 
26 


302    ELECTRICAL   DISTURBANCES    ON   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

which  is  founded  upon  the  resistance  that  is  presented  by  alcohol 
to  the  passage  of  the  electric  current.  It  consists  of  a  conductor 
in  the  form  of  an  arc  placed  in  the  interior  of  a  vessel  filled  with 
alcohol;  in  the  middle  and  very  near  the  vertical  branches  of 
this  conductor,  and  parallel  to  these  branches,  rises  a  metal  rod, 
which  is  toothed,  as  is  also  the  plate  itself,  which  is  in  the  form 
of  an  arc;  this  rod  is  terminated  in  a  point  toward  the  summit 
of  the  arc,  but  without  touching  it,  and  is  in  communication  with 
the  ground  by  its  lower  extremity.  In  order  to  arrive  at  the  tel- 
egraph, the  line  current  is  obliged  to  traverse  the  plate,  which  is 
also  well  insulated  by  means  of  the  alcohol,  so  that  the  current 
cannot  be  diverted ;  but  as  soon  as  atmospheric  electricity  accu- 
mulates in  it,  it  is  transmitted  by  means  of  the  points,  or  closely 
approximated  teeth,  to  the  interior  rod,  and  thence  to  the  ground. 

M.  Hipp,  having  remarked  that  the  induced  current  due  to 
the  action  of  atmospheric  electricity  tends  to  leap,  according  to 
its  direction,  from  a  point  to  a  plate,  and  never  from  a  plate  to  a 
plate,  or  from  a  point  to  a  point,  has  arranged  lightning-conduc- 
tors upon  the  Swiss  lines  so  that  the  discharge  always  finds  means 
to  leap  from  a  point  to  a  plate,  whatever  be  the  direction  in  which 
it  is  travelling.  With  this  view,  he  interposes  in  the  line  wire  a 
metal  plate,  traversed  by  two  metal  points,  below  and  very  near 
to  which  is  a  second  plate  communicating  with  the  ground,  and 
furnished  also  with  two  points,  likewise  very  near  to  the  former 
plate. 

These  latter  forms  of  lightning-conductors,  the  primitive  idea 
of  which  belongs  to  Steinheil,  who  was  the  first  to  think  of  pla- 
cing telegraphic  apparatus  beyond  the  action  of  atmospheric  elec- 
tricity, rest  upon  the  principle  that  this  electricity,  like  that  which 
is  developed  by  frictional  electric  machines,  tends  to  pass  under 
the  form  of  a  spark  by  the  shortest  path,  even  when  there  is  an 
insulating  interval,  provided  that  it  be  very  small;  whilst  the 
electric  current  that  is  derived  from  a  voltaic  battery  requires 
for  its  transmission  a  continuous  circuit,  and  will  traverse  this 
circuit  even  were  it  several  hundreds  of  miles  in  length,  rather 
than  follow  a  shorter  route  that  might  present  a  slight  interrup- 
tion. This  principle,  which  is  a  consequence  of  the  difference  of 


ATMOSPHERIC  ELECTRICITY.  303 

tension  that  exists  between  electricity  produced  according  to  the 
former  mode,  and  that  which  is  produced  according  to  the  latter, 
is  confirmed  by  the  observation  of  Steinheil,  who  found,  before 
he  had  furnished  the  telegraphic  stations  with  lightning-conduc- 
tors, that,  when  the  line  wire  is  found  charged  with  atmospheric 
electricity,  this  electricity  leaps  forth  in  sparks  from  one  end  to 
the  other  of  the  wire  of  the  telegraphic  apparatus,  instead  of  fol- 
lowing all  the  contortions  of  this  wire,  as  does  the  current  which 
is  intended  for  giving  signals.  However,  this  is  not  always  the 
case,  especially  when  the  action  of  atmospheric  electricity  upon 
the  line  wire  is  an  inductive  action,  which  produces  in  this  wire 
an  instantaneous  current,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  cause  neces- 
sarily a  disturbance  in  the  indications  of  the  apparatus,  but  yet 
without  producing  in  them  any  damage  or  serious  accidents. 

NATURAL  CURRENTS. 

The  electric  lines  are  constantly  traversed  by  feeble  currents, 
independent  of  the  instantaneous  or  continued  currents  which  are 
produced  by  storms ;  the  causes  of  the  former  are  very  diverse, 
and  as  yet  little  understood. 

We  have  found  by  investigation  that  the  accumulation  of  elec- 
tric tension  from  the  atmosphere,  which  varies  each  instant  of  the 
day,  can  determine  in  the  wires  an  electric  movement ;  the  differ- 
ences of  temperature  at  the  different  points  of  the  line  can 
equally  give  place  to  a  little  electro-motive  force ;  but  the  most 
general  cause  is,  without  doubt,  the  development  of  electricity 
produced  by  chemical  action,  which  operates  by  the  contact  of 
bodies  placed  in  the  earth  to  make  communication  between  the 
batteries  and  apparatus  and  the  common  reservoir. 

In  order  to  have  a  good  communication  with  the  sun,  we  place 
in  a  damp  vessel  a  mass  of  iron  sufficiently  large :  the  water 
which  surrounds  these  electrodes  contains  always  some  salts, 
which  produce,  with  the  iron,  chemical  reactions  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  develop  an  electric  current.  These  currents  are  in 
general  very  feeble,  and  without  action  upon  the  apparatus  in 
which  the  electro-magnets  are  used ;  but  we  can  observe  them  by 


304    ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

the  aid  of  sensitive  galvanometers.  We  have  had  much  experi- 
ence with  these  currents,  and  believe  they  are  manifested  in  cer- 
tain places  periodically,  but  varying  in  feeling  and  intensity. 

In  volcanic  countries  they  appear  to  have  much  greater  inten- 
sity, and  their  origin  is  without  doubt  different. 

Upon  submarine  lines  these  currents  are  extremely  remark- 
able; they  acquire  at  certain  times  a  great  degree  of  energy, 
and  produce  upon  the  needle  of  the  galvanometer  singular  oscil- 
lations. Some  attribute  them  to  an  electric  movement  in  the  sea, 
the  nature  and  cause  of  which  are  unknown.  It  is  principally  in 
the  changes  of  the  weather  that  they  are  observed.  They  often 
interrupt  transmission. 

Between  Calais  and  Dover  these  currents  are  often  observed 
so  strong  as  to  deviate  the  needle  of  the  galvanometer  having 
forty  turns  of  wire,  80°.  The  needle  goes  ordinarily  from  one 
extreme  to  the  other  upon  the  graduated  limb  of  the  galvanom- 
eter, and  passes  by  the  zero ;  the  duration  of  each  of  these  oscil- 
lations is  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  they  grow  more  feeble, 
and  cease  entirely  in  two  or  three  hours. 

It  is  only  after  a  great  number  of  experiments  that  we  can  de- 
termine the  true  cause  of  these  phenomena ;  and  take  from  the 
results  facts  for  the  advancement  of  natural  science. 

RETURN  CURRENTS. 

If  we  send  a  current  of  electricity  through  a  submarine  tele- 
graphic line  between  two  distant  points,  and  then  instantly  put  the 
end  having  the  battery  in  connection  with  the  earth,  leaving  the 
battery  disconnected,  we  shall  find  the  armature  of  the  electro- 
magnet will  be  drawn  up,  and  then  fall  back  through  the  action 
of  a  return  current.  These  currents  are  of  very  brief  dura- 
tion, but  vary  according  to  the  length  of  the  lines ;  —  the  more 
lengthy  the  line,  the  greater  the  length  of  time  during  which  the 
return  currents  continue.  The  duration  of  these  currents  is  often 
so  short,  that  the  circuit  of  the  local  battery  is  not  closed  long 
enough  to  make  a  signal. 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM. 

WE  have  already  spoken,  in  Part  I.  page  38,  of  the  property 
that  is  possessed  by  magnets,  of  assuming  a  determinate  direc- 
tion, under  the  influence  of  the  terrestrial' globe.  We  will  now 
consider  the  force  which  produces  that  direction,  and  which  is 
designated  under  the  name  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  It  is  one 
of  the  modes  of  manifestation  of  the  natural  sources  of  electrici- 
ty, since  magnetism  itself  is  only  a  particular  form  of  electricity. 
The  magnetic  force  of  our  globe  is  manifested  at  its  surface  by 
three  classes  of  phenomena ;  namely,  the  declination  of  the  mag- 
netized needle,  its  inclination,  and  the  intensity  with  which  the 
force  acts.  The  declination  is  the  angle  that  is  formed  with  the 
direction  of  the  meridian  of  the  place  by  the  direction  of  the 
magnetized  needle  placed  upon  a  vertical  pivot.  The  inclina- 
tion is  the  angle  that  is  formed  with  the  horizon  in  the  magnetic 
meridian  by  the  direction  of  a  magnetized  needle  sustained  by 
its  centre  of  gravity,  around  which  it  is  able  to  turn  freely  in  a 
vertical  plane.  These  three  elements,  declination,  inclination, 
and  intensity,  vary  not  only  from  one  place  to  another,  but  in  the 
same  place,  with  time.  They  also  manifest  irregular  and  acci- 
dental variations,  designated  under  the  name  of  disturbances,  and 
the  existence  of  which  is  connected  with  the  presence  of  some 
natural  phenomenon,  such,  in  particular,  as  that  of  the  aurora 
borealis. 

It  is  well  established  that  the  forces  which  act  upon  the  mag- 
netized needle  emanate  directly  from  the  terrestrial  globe.  But 
what  is  this  magnetism?  Where  does  it  reside?  What  is  its 
form,  its  distribution,  its  origin  ? 

Gilbert  thought  the  earth  a  magnet,  and  that  it  has  conse- 
quently two  magnetic  poles,  tolerably  near  to  its  terrestrial  poles. 
Halley,  in  order  to  explain  all  the  phenomena  of  terrestrial  mag- 
26*  T 


306    ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

netism,  found  it  necessary  to  admit  the  existence  of  four  poles. 
Hansteen  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion,  and  assigned  the  place 
to  these  four  poles.  It  is  necessary,  under  this  hypothesis,  to 
admit  that  the  earth  is  traversed  by  two  magnets,  crossing  each 
other  in  its  centre,  the  axes  of  which  form  a  certain  angle.  It  is 
true  that  there  exists  in  the  earth  a  magnetic  oxide  of  iron,  en- 
dowed with  polarity,  and  Humboldt  has  made  some  curious 
observations  upon  the  polar  magnetism  of  certain  rocks,  and  even 
of  a  mountain ;  but  besides  our  being  unable  to  admit  that  the 
earth  contains  a  quantity  of  these  magnetic  rocks  sufficient  to 
constitute  terrestrial  magnetism,  we  could  not  comprehend  to 
what  would  be  due  the  regular  distribution  which  their  magnetic 
polarity  would  assume.  Gauss  considers  that  the  whole  mass  of 
the  globe  is  magnetic,  and  that  there  exist  a  great  number  of 
magnetic  centres. 

Mr.  Barlow,  after  having  demonstrated  that  neither  the  pres- 
ence of  a  single  magnet,  nor  the  arrangement  of  several  magnets 
in  the  interior  of  the  globe,  could  produce  the  phenomena  of  ter- 
restrial magnetism,  considers  that,  on  the  contrary,  we  may  very 
well  account  for  them  by  assuming,  as  Ampere  did,  electric  cur- 
rents, circulating  around  the  terrestrial  globe  in  a  direction 
very  nearly  from  east  to  west.  He  has  endeavored  to  confirm 
this  hypothesis  by  distributing  upon  the  surface  of  a  wooden 
globe  a  series  of  electric  currents,  arranged  so  as  to  produce 
upon  a  magnetic  needle,  not  subject  to  terrestrial  influence,  and 
placed  in  divers  positions,  the  same  kind  of  action  that  the  earth 
imparts  to  it  in  analogous  positions  (Fig.  88). 

De  la  Rive  considers  that  the  forces  which  produce  terrestrial 
magnetism  have  their  origin  in  the  solidified  portion,  that  is,  in 
the  solid  crust  of  the  terrestrial  globe,  which  does  not  prevent  the 
points  of  application  of  their  resultants  being  in  the  interior  of 
the  globe,  more  or  less  near  to  its  centre ;  and  hence  the  idea 
of  electric  currents  circulating  in  this  solid  envelope,  and  form- 
ing a  solenoid  more  or  less  complicated,  appears  to  him  most 
natural.  But  whence  arise  these  currents,  and  what  is  the  cause 
by  which  their  direction  is  determined?  In  order  to  explain 
atmospheric  electricity,  a  production  of  electricity  is  assumed, 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  307 

• 

resulting  from  chemical  actions  which  take  place  in  the  interior 

of  the  terrestrial  globe ;  but  we  cannot  comprehend  how  this  de- 


Fig  88. 

velopment  of  electricity  should  give  rise  to  currents  circulating 
from  east  to  west.  This  direction  must  evidently  be  connected 
with  the  movement  of  rotation  of  the  earth,  which  takes  place 
from  west  to  east ;  and  consequently  it  is  only  in  the  existence 
of  induced  currents,  arising  from  a  magnetic  action  exterior  to 
the  earth,  but  susceptible  of  being  exercised  upon  it,  that  the 
confirmation  may  be  found  of  the  hypothesis  of  Ampere,  adopted 
by  Mr.  Barlow. 

Indeed,  the  inductive  currents  are  connected,  more  or  less, 
according  to  their  direction,  with  the  direction  of  the  movement 
of  the  induced  body ;  and  we  know  that  on  causing  a  body  to 
rotate  rapidly  on  its  axis,  under  the  influence  of  a  magnetic  pole, 
we  are  able  to  produce  in  it  continuous  induced  currents.  But 
where  would  the  inducing  body  be,  when  the  terrestrial  sphere 
is  in  question  ?  Evidently,  it  could  only  be  found  in  the  moon 
or  in  the  sun.  The  moon  plainly  exercises  an  influence  over  the 
movements  of  the  magnetized  needle ;  but  this  influence  is  very 
feeble,  and  nothing  enables  us  to  discover  traces  of  magnetism  or 
of  dynamic  electricity  in  the  moon,  the  mass  of  which,  besides,  is 
too  small  in  respect  to  the  earth  for  us  to  suppose  that  it  can  act 
upon  it.  It  would  be  much  more  likely  that  the  earth  should  act 
upon  the  moon. 


308    ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

• 

It  is  only  in  the  sun  that  we  can  find  a  body  exterior  to  the 
earth  capable  of  exercising  upon  it  an  inductive  action.  The 
sun  appears  to  possess  .powerful  electro-dynamic  properties,  for  it 
is  very  probable  that  its  light  is  due  to  energetic  electric  currents, 
which  surround  it,  from  the  fact  that  the  electric  light,  which 
plays  between  two  carbon  points  that  communicate  with  the  two 
poles  of  a  battery,  bears  a  stronger  resemblance  to  it  than  any 
other. 

That  the  magnetic  influence  of  the  sun  is  not  a  gratuitous  hy- 
pothesis, we  find  a  proof  in  the  agreement  that  exists  between 
the  magnetic  movements  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  the 
various  positions  of  the  sun  in  respect  to  the  places  of  observation. 
Endeavors  have  been  made  to  explain  this  agreement  by  an  indi- 
rect action  of  the  sun.  M.  Aime  attributed  the  diurnal  variations 
of  the  magnetic  elements  to  thermo-electric  currents,  all  emanating 
from  the  most  heated  point,  —  a  point  which,  changing  its  place 
with  the  sun,  must  make  the  turn  of  the  globe  in  twenty-four  hours; 
so  that,  in  every  place  on  the  earth,  except  upon  the  parallel  in 
which  is  the  centre  of  the  action,  the  direction  and  the  force  of 
the  currents  change  throughout  the  day.  But  this  hypothesis  has 
against  it,  independently  of  a  general  objection,  the  small  probabil- 
ity of  the  existence  of  thermo-electric  currents  upon  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  either  on  account  of  the  imperfect  conductibility  of  this 
surface,  or  on  account  of  the  enormous  proportion  of  water  that 
it  presents,  which  is  not  susceptible  of  thermo-electricity. 

Faraday  attributes  the  magnetic  variations  to  the  magnetic 
properties  of  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  —  properties  which 
follow,  in  their  degrees  of  force,  the  variations  of  temperature,  in 
such  a  manner  that  heating  reduces  and  cooling  exalts  them. 

Father  Secchi  concludes  from  all  the  phases  which  the  varia- 
tion of  declination  undergoes,  that  the  sun  acts  upon  the  magnetized 
needle  as  if  it  were  itself  a  large  magnet,  placed  at  a  great  distance 
from  the  earth,  and  having  its  poles  of  the  same  name  as  those  of 
the  earth  turned  to  the  same  side  of  the  heavens.  But  in  order 
to  recognize  the  accuracy  of  these  laws,  regard  must  be  had  to 
the  inverse  action  which  the  needle  undergoes  on  the  part  of  the 
sun  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  by  the  effect  of  the  rotation  of  the 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  309 

earth,  the  front  of  the  needle  that  faces  the  sun  being  different  at 
noon  and  at  midnight,  and  the  earth  being  interposed  at  the  sec- 
ond epoch. 

There  are,  however,  other  causes  which  affect  the  magnetized 
needle.  M.  Arago  observed,  on  February  19,  1822,  an  extraor- 
dinary agitation  in  the  needle  of  diurnal  variations,  and  there  was 
at  the  same  moment  a  strong  earthquake  in  Auvergne,  at  Lyons, 
and  in  Switzerland.  Mr.  Gray  likewise  observed  in  Valdivia,  on 
the  western  coast  of  South  America,  a  very  remarkable  disturb- 
ance in  the  magnetized  needle  at  the  period  of  a  terrible  earth- 
quake which  took  place  in  those  latitudes  in  February,  1836. 
But  among  all  natural  phenomena,  there  is  one  whose  connection 
with  terrestrial  magnetism  is  so  well  established  that  we  have,  in 
the  movement  which  the  magnetized  needle  suffers,  a  proof  of  its 
presence,  namely,  the  aurora  borealis. 

s 

THE  AURORA  BOREALIS. 

The  aurora  borealis,  or  rather  the  polar  aurora,  —  for  there 
are  auroras  australes  as  well  as  aurora  boreales,  —  has  been  an 
object  of  wonder  and  admiration  from  time  immemorial. 

Pliny  and  Aristotle  record  phenomena  identical  with  those 
which  later  times  have  witnessed.  The  ancients  ranked  this  with 
other  celestial  phenomena,  as  portending  great  events. 

In  a  Bible  imprinted  at  London  in  the  year  1599,  the  22d  verse 
of  the  37th  chapter  of  Job  reads  thus :  "  The  brightness  commeth 
out  of  the  Northe,  the  praise  to  God  which  is  terrible."  The 
writer  of  the  Book  of  Job  was  very  conversant  with  natural  objects, 
and  may  have  referred  to  the  aurora  borealis  and  the  phenomena 
immediately  connected  therewith. 

In  1560,  we  are  told,  it  was  seen  at  London  in  the  shape  of 
burning  spears,  a  similitude  which  would  be  no  less  appropriate 
now  than  then.  Frequent  displays  are  recorded  during  the  fifteen 
years  following  that  date.  During  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  phenomena  were  frequently  visible,  oftentimes  being 
characterized  by  remarkable  brilliancy.  After  1745,  the  displays 
suddenly  diminished,  and  were  but  rarely  seen  for  the  next  nine 


310     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

years.  The  present  century  has  been  favored  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  The  displays  during  the  years  1835,  '36,  '37,  '46,  '48, 
'51,  '52,  and  '59,  have  been  especially  grand. 

What  is  the  origin  of  these  remarkable  phenomena  ?  The  an- 
cients asked  the  question,  and  the  moderns  reply  by  repeating  it. 
Before  proceeding  to  describe  the  magnificent  auroral  displays  of 
August  28th  and  September  2d,  let  us  examine  authorities  upon 
this  subject,  and  see  if  we  cannot  arrive  at  some  satisfactory  solu- 
tion of  the  phenomena.  The  following  is  the  description  given  by 
Humboldt  in  "  Cosmos  " :  — 

"  An  aurora  borealis  is  always  preceded  by  the  formation  in  the 
horizon  of  a  sort  of  nebulous  veil,  which  slowly  ascends  to  a  height 
of  4°,  6°,  8°,  and  even  to  10°.  It  is  towards  the  magnetic  meridian 
of  the  place  that  the  sky,  at  first  pure,  begins  to  get  brownish. 
Through  this  obscure  segment,  the  color  of  which  passes  from 
brown  to  violet,  the  stars  are  seen,  as  through  a  thick  fog.  A 
wider  arc,  but  one  of  brilliant  light,  at  first  white,  then  yellow, 
bounds  the  dark  segment.  Sometimes  the  luminous  arc  appears 
agitated,  for  hours  together,  by  a  sort  of  effervescence,  and  by  a 
continuous  change  of  form,  before  the  rising  of  the  rays  and  col- 
umns of  light,  which  ascend  as  far  as  the  zenith.  The  more  in- 
tense the  emission  of  the  polar  light,  the  more  vivid  are  its  colors, 
which,  from  violet  and  bluish-white,  pass  through  all  the  interme- 
diate shades  of  green  and  purple-red.  Sometimes  the  columns  of 
light  appear  to  come  out  of  the  brilliant  arc  mingled  with  blackish 
rays,  resembling  a  thick  smoke ;  sometimes  they  rise  simultane- 
ously from  different  points  of  the  horizon,  and  unite  themselves 
into  a  sea  of  flames,  the  magnificence  of  which  no  painting  could 
express ;  for,  at  each  instant,  rapid  undulations  cause  their  form 
and  brilliancy  to  vary.  Motion  appears  to  increase  the  visibility 
of  the  phenomena.  Around  the  point  in  the  heaven  which  cor- 
responds to  the  direction  of  the  dipping-needle  produced,  the  rays 
appear  to  meet  and  form  the  boreal  corona.  It  is  seldom  that  the 
appearance  is  so  complete,  and  is  prolonged  to  the  formation  of 
the  corona ;  but  when  the  latter  appears,  it  always  announces  the 
end  of  the  phenomenon.  The  rays  then  become  more  rare,  shorter, 
and  less  vividly  colored.  Soon  nothing  further  is  seen  on  the 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  31 1 

celestial  vault  than  wide,  motionless  nebulous  spots,  pale,  or  of  an 
ashy  color ;  they  have  already  disappeared,  when  the  traces  of 
the  dark  segment  whence  the  appearance  originated  still  remain 
on  the  horizon." 

Dr.  P.  Moulton,  of  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  communicates  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  a  remarkable  aurora  borealis  observed  by 
him :  — 

"  In  one  of  my  evening  rides,  about  thirty  years  ago,  I  wit- 
nessed a  remarkable  display  of  the  aurora  borealis  in  a  cloudless 
sky  while  the  moon  was  below  the  horizon.  "When  I  first  took 
notice  of  the  aurora,  before  it  was  dark,  and  while  the  evening 
shade  was  growing  darker,  I  saw  a  veil  in  the  north,  with  a 
fringe  of  light  forming  an  arc,  as  described  by  Humboldt  in 
*  Cosmos/  which  obscured  the  stars  beyond  it.  Rays  or  columns 
of  light  of  equal  length  and  breadth  were  seen  moving  with  great 
regularity,  and  at  first  pretty  rapidly,  from  northeast  to  north- 
west. They  did  not,  as  usual,  shoot  up  from  the  edge  of  the  dark 
veil.  Their  bases  appeared  to  touch  the  arc,  and  as  they  moved 
between  me  and  the  stars,  which  were  visible  beyond  these  trans- 
parent stripes,  they  appeared  to  me  to  form  a  part  of  some  vast 
machine,  or  an  immense  wheel  whose  axis  might  be  supposed  to 
be  at  the  point  where  I  was  observing  them,  and  connected  with 
them  by  invisible  arms  radiating  from  it.  These  luminous 
stripes,  for  they  were  not  like  radii  diverging  from  the  centre  of 
a  circle,  appeared,  as  I  said  before,  to  belong  to  a  vast  wheel 
revolving  in  the  heavens ;  and  at  this  stage  of  the  exhibition  or 
display  the  scene  would  appear,  to  an  untrained  and  supersti- 
tious observer,  awful  and  terrific,  though  nothing  was  presented 
to  view  but  grandeur,  order,  and  beauty. 

"  These  luminous  stripes  (or  rays,  if  you  prefer  that  term)  pre- 
served their  parallelism  as  they  ascended  from  the  north ;  and  if 
we  suppose  the  axis  to  be  inclined  more  and  more  to  the  south, 
and  the  stripes  of  light  to  continue  parallel  to  the  imaginary  axis 
till  it  became  horizontal,  they  would  represent  an  arch  which 
would  span  the  heavens  from  east  to  west. 

"  I  would  remark  here,  that  the  stripes  were  longest  when  I  first 
saw  them,  extending  through  a  space  of  40°  in  height,  and  that 


312      ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

they  moved  from  the  point  where  they  first  seemed  to  be  formed, 
in  the  northeast,  to  the  northwest,  90°  distant,  where  a  column  of 
light  appeared  which  was  motionless,  and  which  appeared  to  me 
to  be  formed  by  the  accumulation  of  the  stripes  or  rays.  The 
spaces  between  the  rays  were  wider  than  they  were  when  I  first 
saw  them ;  but  the  spaces  became  narrower,  and  the  rays  or 
columns  broader  and  shorter,  as  they  ascended  from  the  sensible 
horizon,  and  their  motion,  as  of  a  revolving  wheel,  became  grad- 
ually slower,  till  it  ceased  or  was  imperceptible. 

"  An  hour  after  I  first  noticed  the  veil  and  rays,  I  went  into  a 
house  to  visit  a  patient,  and  when  I  came  out,  half  an  hour  later, 
instead  of  rays  I  saw  luminous  clouds,  not  like  cirri,  but  what 
might  be  called  strato-nimbi,  which  were  in  a  regular  series,  ex- 
tending from  east  to  west  like  an  arch.  I  regret  having  failed 
to  watch  the  phenomena  from  first  to  last,  as  I  am  much  in- 
clined to  believe  that  these  strato-nimbi  were  the  rays  trans- 
formed. When  I  last  saw  them,  they  retained  their  relative 
position  in  regard  to  each  other  and  to  the  imaginary  axis,  and 
they  were  progressing  towards  the  south,  as  if  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  axis  dipped  below,  while  the  northern  rose  above, 
the  horizon." 

The  connection  that  seems  to  exist,  says  De  la  Rive,  between 
the  polar  light  and  the  appearance  of  a  certain  species  of  clouds, 
is  confirmed  by  all  observers ;  all  have  affirmed  that  the  polar 
light  emitted  its  most  brilliant  rays  when  the  high  regions  of  the 
air  contained  heaps  of  cirri,  —  strata  of  sufficient  tenuity  and 
lightness  to  cause  a  corona  to  arise  around  the  light.  Sometimes 
these  clouds  are  grouped  and  arranged  almost  like  the  rays  of  an 
aurora  borealis ;  they  then  appear  to  disturb  the  magnetized 
needle.  Father  Secchi  has  remarked,  that  magnetic  disturbances 
are  manifested  at  Rome  whilst  the  sky  is  veiled  with  clouds  that 
are  slightly  phosphorescent,  which,  at  night,  present  the  appear- 
ance of  feeble  auroras  boreales. 

After  a  brilliant  aurora  borealis,  we  have  been  able  to  recog- 
nize, on  the  following  morning,  trains  of  clouds,  which  during 
the  night  had  appeared  as  so  many  luminous  rays. 

The  absolute  height  of  aurorae  boreales  has  been  very  variously 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  313 

estimated  by  different  observers.  It  has  long  been  thought  that 
we  might  determine  it  by  regarding,  from  two  places  widely  dis- 
tant from  each  other,  the  same  part  of  the  aurora, — the  corona, 
for  example.  But  we  have  started  from  a  very  inaccurate  as- 
sumption, namely,  that  the  two  observers  had  their  eyes  directed 
to  the  same  point  at  the  same  time, — whilst  it  is  now  well  proved 
that  the  corona  is  an  effect  of  perspective,  due  to  the  apparent 
convergence  of  the  parallel  rays  situated  in  the  magnetic  meridian; 
so  that  each  observer  sees  his  own  aurora  borealis,  as  each  sees 
his  own  rainbow.  The  aspect  of  the  phenomenon  depends  also 
upon  the  positions  of  the  observers.  The  seat  of  the  aurora 
borealis  is  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere ;  though  some- 
times it  appears  to  be  produced  in  the  less  elevated  regions  where 
the  clouds  are  formed.  This,  at  least,  is  what  follows  from  some 
observations,  especially  from  those  of  Captain  Franklin,  who  saw 
an  aurora  borealis  the  light  of  which  appeared  to  him  to  illumi- 
nate the  lower  surface  of  a  stratum  of  clouds ;  whilst  some 
twenty-five  miles  farther  on,  Mr.  Kendal,  who  had  watched  the 
whole  of  the  night  without  losing  sight  of  the  sky  for  a  single 
moment,  did  not  perceive  any  trace  of  light.  Captain  Parry 
saw  an  aurora  borealis  display  itself  against  the  side  of  a  moun- 
tain ;  and  we  are  assured  that  a  luminous  ring  has  sometimes 
been  perceived  upon  the  very  surface  of  the  sea,  around  the 
magnetic  pole.  Lieutenant  Hood  and  Dr.  Richardson,  being 
placed  at  the  distance  of  about  forty-five  miles  from  each  other, 
in  order  to  make  simultaneous  observations,  whence  they  might 
deduce  the  parallax  of  the  phenomenon,  and  consequently  its 
height,  were  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  aurora  borealis  had 
not  a  greater  elevation  than  five  miles.  M.  Liais,  having  had  the 
opportunity  of  applying  a  method,  which  he  had  devised  for 
measuring  the  height  of  auroras  boreales,  to  an  aurora  seen  at 
Cherbourg,  October  31,  1853,  found  that  the  arc  of  the  aurora 
was  about  two  and  a  half  miles  above  the  ground,  at  its  lower 
edge. 

Various  observations  made  by  Professor  Olmsted,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Professor  Twining,  of  New  Haven,  led  him,  on  the 
contrary,  to  fix  the  elevation  on  different  occasions  at  forty-two, 
27 


314       ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

one  hundred,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  He  claims  that 
it  is  rarely  less  than  seventy  miles  from  the  earth,  and  never 
more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty.  He  also  claims  that  its  origin 
is  cosmical,  —  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  earth,  in  revolving  in 
its  orbit,  at  certain  periods  passes  through  a  nebulous  body,  which 
evolves  this  strange  light  in  more  or  less  brilliancy,  as  the  body 
is  larger  or  smaller.  To  support  this  theory,  he  attempted  to 
establish  that  there  were  fixed  epochs  for  its  display  in  the  high- 
est degree  of  brilliancy.  The  length  of  these  periods  was  from 
sixty  to  seventy  years,  and  the  next  appearance  was  to  be  in 
1890.  The  remarkable  displays  of  August  28th  and  September 
2d  show  the  fallacy  of  his  conclusions  in  this  respect. 

Mairon  and  Dalton  had  also  thought  that  the  aurora  borealis 
was  a  cosmical,  and  not  an  atmospheric  phenomenon.  But  M. 
Biot,  who  had  himself  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  aurora 
in  the  Shetland  Isles  in  1817,  had  already  been  led  to  recognize 
it  as  an  atmospheric  phenomenon,  by  the  consideration  that  the 
arcs  and  the  corona?  of  the  aurora  in  no  way  participate  in  the 
apparent  motion  of  the  stars  from  east  to  west,  —  a  proof  that 
they  are  drawn  along  by  the  rotation  of  the  earth.  Hence,  almost 
all  observers  have  arrived  at  the  same  conclusions ;  we  will  in 
particular  cite  MM.  Lottin  and  Bravais,  who  have  observed  more 
than  a  hundred  and  forty  aurorae  boreales.  It  is  therefore  now 
clearly  proved  that  the  aurora  borealis  is  not  an  extra-atmospheric 
phenomenon.  To  the  proofs  drawn  from  the  appearance  of  the 
phenomenon  itself  we  may  add  others  deduced  from  certain  effects 
which  accompany  it,  such  as  the  noise  of  crepitation,  which  the 
dwellers  nearest  to  the  pole  affirm  that  they  have  heard  when 
there  is  the  appearance  of  an  aurora,  and  the  sulphurous  odor  that 
accompanies  it.  Finally,  if  the  phenomena  took  place  beyond  our 
planet  and  its  atmosphere,  why  should  they  take  place  at  the  po- 
lar regions  only,  as  they  often  do  ? 

J.  S.  Winn,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Franklin",  dated  Spithead,  August 
12,  1772,  says:  "The  observation  is  new,  I  believe,  that  the  au- 
rora borealis  is  constantly  succeeded  by  hard  southerly  or  south- 
west winds,  attended  with  hazy  weather  and  small  rain.  I  think 
I  am  warranted  from  experience  in  saying  constantly,  for  in  twenty- 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  315 

three  instances  that  have  occurred  since  I  first  made  the  observa- 
tion it  has  invariably  obtained ;  and  the  knowledge  has  been  of 
vast  service  to  me,  as  I  have  got  out  of  the  Channel,  when  other 
men  as  alert,  and  in  faster  ships,  but  unapprised  of  this  circum- 
stance, have  not  only  been  driven  back,  but  with  difficulty  escaped 
shipwreck." 

Colonel  James  Capper,  the  discoverer  of  the  circular  nature  of 
storms,  remarks :  "  As  it  appears  that,  on  all  such  occasions,  the 
current  of  air  comes  in  a  direction  diametrically  opposite  to  that 
where  the  meteor  appears,  it  seems  probable  that  the  aurora 
borealis  is  caused  by  the  ascent  of  a  considerable  quantity  of 
electric  fluid  in  the  superior  regions  of  the  atmosphere  to  the 
north  and  northeast,  where,  consequently,  it  causes  a  body  of  air 
near  the  earth  to  ascend,  when  another  current  of  air  will  rush 
from  the  opposite  point  to  fill  up  the  vacuum,  and  thus  may  pro- 
duce the  southerly  gales  which  succeed  the  aurora  borealis." 

The  bark  "Northern  Light,"  arrived  at  Boston  from  Africa, 
was  at  sea  on  the  night  of  the  great  exhibition  of  the  aurora 
borealis,  the  28th  of  August.  The  vessel  was  struck  by  light- 
ning twice,  after  which  the  red  flames  of  the  aurora  burst  upon 
the  astonished  vision  of  the  crew.  Most  of  them  are  confident 
that  they  smelt  a  sulphurous  odor  all  night. 

M.  de  Tessan,  who,  in  the  voyage  of  the  "Venus"  around  the 
world,  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  a  very  beautiful  aurora 
australis,  which  he  describes  with  much  care,  also  considers 
that  this  phenomenon  takes  place  in  the  atmosphere.  The  sum- 
mit of  the  aurora  being  in  the  magnetic  meridian,  it  was  ele- 
vated 14°  above  the  horizon,  and  the  centre  of  the  arc  was  on 
the  prolongation  of  the  dipping-needle,  the  dip  being  about 
68°  at  the  place  of  the  observation.  M.  de  Tessan  did  not  hear 
the  noise  arising  from  the  aurora,  which  he  attributes  to  the 
circumstance  that  he  was  too  far  distant  from  the  place  of  the 
phenomenon ;  but  he  reports  the  observation  of  a  distinguished 
officer  of  the  French  navy,  M.  Verdier,  who,  on  the  night  of  Oc- 
tober 13th,  1819,  being  in  the  latitude  of  Newfoundland,  had 
heard  very  distinctly  a  sort  of  crackling  or  crepitation,  when  the 
vessel  he  was  on  board  of  was  in  the  midst  of  an  aurora  borealis. 


316    ELECTEICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

This  was  also  observed  in  many  localities  during  the  aurora  of 
August  28th,  1859.  A  New  York  paper,  alluding  to  the  subject, 
remarks:  "Many  imagined  that  they  heard  rushing  sounds,  as  if 
^Eolus  had  let  loose  the  winds;  others  were  confident  that  a 
sweeping,  as  if  of  flames,  was  distinctly  audible."  Burns,  a  good 
observer,  if  ever  there  was  one,  and  not  likely  to  be  aware  of  any 
theories  on  the  subject,  alludes  in  his  "Vision"  to  a  noise  accom- 
panying the  aurora,  as  if  it  were  of  ordinary  occurrence:  — 

"  The  cauld  blue  North  was  flashing  forth 
Her  lights  wi'  hissing  eerie  din." 

It  finds  confirmation  also  in  the  fact,  generally  admitted  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  northern  regions,  that,  when  the  aurora  appear 
low,  a  crackling  is  heard  similar  to  that  of  the  electric  spark. 
The  Greenlanders  think  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  are  then  strik- 
ing against  each  other  in  the  air.  M.  Ramm,  Inspector  of  For- 
ests in  Norway,  wrote  to  M.  Hansteen,  in  1825,  that  he  had 
heard  the  noise,  which  always  coincided  with  the  appearance  of 
the  luminous  jets,  when,  being  only  ten  years  old,  he  was  cross- 
ing a  meadow  covered  with  snow  and  hoar-frost,  near  which  no 
forests  were  in  existence.  Dr.  Gisler,  who  for  a  long  time  dwelt 
in  the  North  of  Sweden,  remarks  that  the  matter  of  the  auroras 
borealis  sometimes  descends  so  low  that  it  touches  the  ground ; 
at  the  summit  of  high  mountains  it  produces  upon  the  faces  of 
travellers  an  effect  analogous  to  that  of  the  wind.  Dr.  Gisler 
adds,  that  he  has  frequently  heard  the  noise  of  the  aurora,  and 
that  it  resembles  that  of  a  strong  wind,  or  the  hissing  that  certain 
chemical  substances  produce  in  the  act  of  decomposition. 

M.  Necker,  who  has  described  a  great  number  of  aurorae  which 
he  observed  at  the  end  of  1839  and  at  the  commencement  of 
1840,  in  the  Isle  of  Skye,  never  himself  heard  the  noise  in  ques- 
tion ;  but  he  remarks  that  this  noise  had  been  very  frequently 
heard  by  persons  charged  with  meteorological  observations  at  the 
lighthouse  of  Sumburgh  Head,  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
Shetland.  M.  Necker  is  not  the  only  observer  who  has  not 
heard  the  noise;  neither  have  MM.  Lottier  and  Bravais,  who 
have  observed  so  great  a  number  of  aurorae,  ever  heard  it ;  and 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  317 

a  great  many  others  are  in  this  case.  This  may  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  necessary  to  be  very  near  to  the  aurora  in  order  to 
hear  the  crepitation  in  question,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
possible  that  it  does  not  always  take  place,  at  least  in  a  manner 
sufficiently  powerful  to  be  heard. 

"VVe  have  just  been  pointing  out,  as  concomitant  effects  of  the 
aurora  borealis,  a  noise  of  crepitation  analogous  to  that  of  distant 
discharges,  and  a  sulphurous  odor  similar  to  that  which  accompa- 
nies the  fall  of  lightning.  M.  Matteucci  also  observed  at  Pisa, 
during  the  appearance  of  a  brilliant  aurora  borealis,  decided  signs 
of  positive  electricity  in  the  air;  but  of  all  phenomena,  those 
which  invariably  take  place  at  the  same  time  as  the  appearance 
of  the  aurora  borealis  are  the  magnetic  effects.  Magnetized 
needles  suffer  disturbances  in  their  normal  direction  which  cause 
them  to  deviate  generally  to  the  west  first,  afterwards  to  the  east. 
These  disturbances  vary  in  intensity,  but  they  never  fail  to  take 
place,  and  are  manifested  even  in  places  in  which  the  aurora 
borealis  is  not  visible.  This  coincidence,  proved  by  M.  Arago 
without  any  exception,  during  several  years  of  observation,  is 
such,  that  the  learned  Frenchman  was  able,  without  ever  having 
been  mistaken,  to  detect  from  the  bottom  of  the  cellars  of  the 
Observatory  of  Paris  the  appearance  of  an  aurora  borealis.  M. 
Matteucci  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  this  magnetic  influ- 
ence under  a  new  and  remarkable  form.  He  saw,  during  the 
appearance  of  the  aurora  borealis  of  November  17,  1848,  the 
soft  iron  armatures  employed  in  the  electric  telegraph  between 
Florence  and  Pisa  remain  attached  to  their  electro-magnets,  as  if 
the  latter  were  powerfully  magnetized,  without,  however,  the  ap- 
paratus being  in  action,  and  without  the  currents  in  the  battery 
being  set  in  action.  This  singular  effect  ceases  with  the  aurora, 
and  the  telegraph,  as  well  as  the  batteries,  could  operate  anew, 
without  having  suffered  any  alteration.  Mr.  Highton  also  ob- 
served in  England  a  very  decided  action  of  the  aurora  borealis, 
November  17,  1848.  The  magnetized  needle  was  always  driven 
toward  the  same  side,  even  with  much  force.  But  it  is  in  our 
own  country  that  the  action  of  the  aurora  upon  the  telegraph- 
wires  has  been  the  most  remarkable. 
27* 


318    ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

Our  attention  was  first  called  in  1847  to  the  probability  of  the 
aurora's  producing  an  effect  upon  the  wires ;  but,  although  having 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  observe  such  an  effect,  we  were  not 
fortunate  enough  to  do  so  until  the  winter  of  1850,  and  then,  ow- 
ing to  the  feeble  displays  of  the  aurora,  only  to  a  limited  extent. 
In  September,  1851,  however,  there  was  a  remarkable  aurora, 
which  took  complete  possession  of  all  the  telegraph  lines  in  New 
England,  and  prevented  any  business  from  being  transacted  dur- 
ing its  continuance.  The  following  winter  there  was  another  re- 
markable display,  which  occurred  on  the  19th  of  February,  1852. 
It  was  exceedingly  brilliant  throughout  the  northern  portion  of 
our  continent.  We  extract  the  following  account  of  its  effects 
upon  the  wires  from  our  journal  of  that  date.  We  should  pre- 
mise, that  the  system  of  telegraphing  used  upon  the  wires,  during 
the  observation  of  February,  1852,  was  Bain's  chemical.  No 
batteries  were  kept  constantly  upon  the  line,  as  in  the  Morse  and 
other  magnetic  systems.  The  main  wire  was  connected  directly 
with  the  chemically  prepared  paper  on  the  disc,  so  that  any 
atmospheric  currents  were  recorded  with  the  greatest  accuracy. 
Our  usual  battery  current,  decomposing  the  salts  in  the  paper, 
and  uniting  with  the  iron  point  of  the  pen-wire,  left  a  light  blue 
mark  on  the  white  paper,  or,  if  the  current  were  strong,  a  dark 
one,  —  the  color  of  the  mark  depending  upon  the  quantity  of  the 
current  upon  the  wire. 

"  Thursday,  February  19,  1852. 

"  Towards  evening  a  heavy  blue  line  appeared  upon  the  paper, 
which  gradually  increased  in  size  for  the  space  of  half  a  minute, 
when  a  flame  of  fire  succeeded  to  the  blue  line,  of  sufficient  in- 
tensity to  burn  through  a  dozen  thicknesses  of  the  moistened 
paper.  The  current  then  subsided  as  gradually  as  it  had  come 
on,  until  it  entirely  ceased,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  a  negative 
current  (which  bleaches,  instead  of  coloring,  the  paper).  This 
gradually  increased,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  positive  current, 
until  it  also,  in  turn,  produced  its  flame  of  fire,  and  burned 
through  many  thicknesses  of  the  prepared  paper ;  it  then  sub- 
sided, again  to  be  followed  by  the  positive  current.  This  state 
of  things  continued  during  the  entire  evening,  and  effectually 
prevented  any  business  being  done  over  the  wires." 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  3!9 

Never,  however,  since  the  establishment  of  the  telegraphic 
system  in  this  country,  have  the  wires  been  so  greatly  affected 
by  the  aurora  as  upon  Sunday  night,  the  28th  of  August,  1859. 
Throughout  the  entire  northern  portion  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  the  lines  were  rendered  useless  for  all  business  pur- 
poses through  its  action.  So  strongly  was  the  atmosphere  charged 
with  the  electric  fluid,  that  lines  or  circuits  of  only  twelve  miles 
in  length  were  so  seriously  affected  by  it  as  to  render  operation 
difficult,  and  at  times  impossible. 

The  effects  of  this  magnetic  storm  were  apparent  upon  the 
wires  during  a  considerable  portion  of  Saturday  evening,  and 
during  the  whole  of  the  next  day.  At  six  P.  M.  the  line  be- 
tween Boston  and  New  Bedford  (sixty  miles  in  length)  could  be 
worked  only  at  intervals,  although,  of  course,  no  signs  of  the 
aurora  were  apparent  to  the  eye  at  that  hour.  The  same  was 
true  of  the  wires  running  eastward  through  the  State  of  Maine, 
as  well  as  those  to  the  north. 

The  wire  between  Boston  and  Fall  River  had  no  battery  upon 
it  Sunday,  and  yet  there  was  an  artificial  current  upon  it,  which 
increased  and  decreased  in  intensity,  producing  upon  the  electro- 
magnets in  the  offices  the  same  effect  as  would  be  produced  by 
constantly  opening  and  closing  the  circuit  at  intervals  of  half  a 
minute.  This  current,  which  came  from  the  aurora,  was  strong 
enough  to  have  worked  the  line,  although  not  sufficiently  steady 
for  regular  use. 

The  current  from  the  aurora  borealis  comes  in  waves,  —  light 
at  first,  then  stronger,  until  we  have  frequently  a  strength  of 
current  equal  to  that  produced  by  a  battery  of  two  hundred 
Grove  cups.  The  waves  occupy  about  fifteen  seconds  each,  ordi- 
narily, but  we  have  known  them  to  last  a  full  minute  ;  though 
this  is  rare.  As  soon  as  one  wave  passes,  another,  of  the  re- 
verse polarity,  always  succeeds.  We  have  never  known  this  to 
fail,  and  it  may  be  set  down  as  an  invariable  rule.  When  the 
poles  of  the  aurora  are  in  unison  with  the  poles  of  the  current 
upon  the  line,  its  effect  is  to  increase  the  current ;  but  when  they 
are  opposed,  the  current  from  the  battery  is  neutralized,  —  null. 
These  effects  were  observed  at  times  during  Saturday,  Saturday 


320     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

evening,  and  Sunday,  but  were  very  marked  during  Sunday 
evening. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  here,  that  the  effect  of  the  aurora 
borealis,  or  magnetic  storm,  is  totally  unlike  that  of  common  or 
free  electricity,  with  which  the  atmosphere  is  charged  during  a 
thunder-storm.  The  electricity  evolved  during  a  thunder-storm, 
as  soon  as  it  reaches  a  conductor,  explodes  with  a  spark,  and  be- 
comes at  once  dissipated.  The  other,  on  the  contrary,  is  of  very 
low  tension,  remains  upon  the  wires  sometimes  half  a  minute, 
produces  magnetism,  decomposes  chemicals,  deflects  the  needle, 
and  is  capable  of  being  used  for  telegraphic  purposes,  although, 
of  course,  imperfectly. 

Mr.  O.  S.  Wood,  Superintendent  of  the  Canadian  telegraph 
lines,  says :  "  I  never,  in  my  experience  of  fifteen  years  in  the 
working  of  telegraph  lines,  witnessed  anything  like  the  extraor- 
dinary effect  of  the  aurora  borealis,  between  Quebec  and  Father's 
Point,  last  night.  The  line  was  in  most  perfect  order,  and  well- 
skilled  operators  worked  incessantly  from  eight  o'clock  last  even- 
ing till  one  o'clock  this  morning,  to  get  over,  in  even  a  tolerably 
intelligible  form,  about  four  hundred  words  of  the  steamer  In- 
dian's report  for  the  press  ;  but  at  the  latter  hour,  so  completely 
were  the  wires  under  the  influence  of  the  aurora  borealis,  that 
it  was  found  utterly  impossible  to  communicate  between  the  tele- 
graph stations,  and  the  line  was  closed  for  the  night." 

We  have  seen  from  the  foregoing  examples  that  the  aurora 
borealis  produces  remarkable  effects  upon  the  telegraph  lines 
during  its  entire  manifestation.  We  have,  however,  to  record 
yet  more  wonderful  effects  of  the  aurora  upon  the  wires ;  namely, 
the  use  of  the  auroral  current  for  transmitting  and  receiving  tele- 
graphic despatches.  This  almost  incredible  feat  was  accomplished 
in  the  forenoon  of  September  2,  between  the  hours  of  half  past 
eight  and  eleven  o'clock,  on  the  wires  of  the  American  Telegraph 
Company  between  Boston  and  Portland,  upon  the  wires  of  the 
Old  Colony  and  Fall  River  Railroad  Company  between  South 
Braintree  and  Fall  River,  and  upon  other  lines  in  various  parts 
of  the  country. 

The  auroral  influence  was  observed  upon  all  the  lines  running 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  321 

out  of  the  office  in  Boston  at  the  hour  of  commencing  business 
(eight  o'clock,  A.  M.),  and  it  continued  so  strong  up  to  half  past 
eight  as  to  prevent  any  business  being  done ;  the  ordinary  cur- 
rent upon  the  wires  being  at  times  neutralized  by  the  magnetism 
of  the  aurora,  and  at  other  times  so  greatly  augmented  as  to  ren- 
der operations  impracticable.  At  this  juncture  it  was  suggested 
that  the  batteries  should  be  cut  off,. and  the  wires  simply  con- 
nected with  the  earth. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  here,  that,  the  current  from  the  aurora 
coming  in  waves  of  greater  or  less  intensity,  there  are  times, 
both  while  the  wave  is  approaching  and  while  it  is  receding, 
when  the  instruments  are  enabled  to  work;  but  the  time,  vary- 
ing according  to  the  rapidity  of  the  vibrations  of  the  auroral 
bands,  is  only  from  a  quarter  of  a  minute  to  one  minute  in  du- 
ration. Therefore,  whatever  business  is  done  upon  the  wires 
during  these  displays  has  to  be  accomplished  in  brief  intervals  of 
from  a  quarter  to  half  a  minute  in  duration. 

During  one  of  these  intervals,  the  Boston  operator  said  to  the 
one  at  Portland :  "  Please  cut  off  your  battery,  and  let  us  see  if 
we  cannot  work  with  the  auroral  current  alone." 

The  Portland  operator  replied  :  "  I  will  do  so.  Will  you  do 
the  same  ?  " 

"  I  have  already  done  so,"  was  the  answer.  "  We  are  working, 
with  the  aid  of  the  aurora  alone.  How  do  you  receive  my 
writing  ?  " 

"  Very  well  indeed,"  responds  the  operator  at  Portland ;  "  much 
better  than  when  the  batteries  were  on ;  the  current  is  steadier 
and  more  reliable.  Suppose  we  continue  to  work  so  until  the 
aurora  subsides  ?  " 

"  Agreed,"  replied  the  Boston  operator.  "  Are  you  ready  for 
business  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  go  ahead,"  was  the  answer. 

The  Boston  operator,  Mr.  Milliken,  then  commenced  sending 
private  despatches,  which  he  was  able  to  do  much  more  satisfac- 
torily than  when  the  batteries  were  on,  although,  of  course,  not 
so  well  as  he  could  have  done  with  his  own  batteries  without 
celestial  assistance. 


322      ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

The  line  was  worked  in  this  manner  more  than  two  hours, 
when,  the  aurora  having  subsided,  the  batteries  were  resumed. 
While  this  remarkable  phenomenon  was  taking  place  upon  the 
wires  between  Boston  and  Portland,  the  operator  at  South  Brain- 
tree  informed  us  that  he  was  working  the  wire  between  that  station 
and  Fall  River  —  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles  —  with  the  cur- 
rent from  the  aurora  alone.  He  continued  to  do  so  for  some 
time,  the  line  working  comparatively  well.  Since  then  we  have 
visited  Fall  River,  and  have  the  following  account  from  the  intel- 
ligent operator  in  the  railroad  office  at  that  place.  The  office  at 
the  station  is  about  half  a  mile  from  the  regular  office  in  the  vil- 
lage. The  battery  is  kept  at  the  latter  place,  but  the  operator  at 
the  station  is  provided  with  a  switch,  by  which  he  can  throw  the 
battery  off  the  line  and  put  the  wire  in  connection  with  the  earth 
at  pleasure.  The  battery  at  the  other  terminus  of  the  line  is  at 
Boston  ;  but  the  operator  at  South  Braintree  is  furnished  with  a 
similar  switch,  which  enables  him  to  dispense  with  its  use  at 
pleasure.  There  are  no  intermediate  batteries  ;  consequently,  if 
the  Fall  River  operator  put  his  end  of  the  wire  in  connection 
with  the  earth,  and  the  South  Braintree  operator  do  the  same, 
the  line  is  without  battery,  and  of  course  without  an  electrical 
current.  Such  was  the  state  of  the  line  on  the  2d  of  September, 
1859,  when  for  more  than  an  hour  they  held  communication  over 
the  wire  with  the  aid  of  the  celestial  batteries  alone. 

We  extract  the  following  communications,  on  the  influence  of 
the  aurora  borealis  upon  the  electric  telegraph-wires,  from  the 
American  Journal  of  Science,  for  January,  1860 :  — 

Observations  made  at  White  River  Junction,  Vi.,  communicated  by 
J.  H.  NORRIS,  Telegraph  Superintendent. 

During  the  forenoon  of  September  2d,  an  unusual  current  of 
varying  intensity  was  present  most  of  the  time  on  the  wires  of  the 
Vermont  and  Boston  telegraph.  The  polarity  of  this  current  ap- 
peared to  change  frequently,  sometimes  being  opposite  to,  and 
nearly  or  quite  neutralizing,  the  battery  current  when  an  attempt 
was  made  to  use  the  line ;  at  other  times  much  increasing  the 
force  of  the  battery  current.  The  auroral  current  produced  the 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  323 

same  marks  upon  our  chemical  paper  (we  use  the  Bain  or  chemi- 
cal system  of  telegraph)  as  those  produced  by  the  use  of  the  bat- 
tery. Signals  and  messages  were  transmitted  between  Boston 
and  Manchester  by  the  sole  use  of  the  auroral  current. 

Observations  made  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  by  J.  E.  SELDEN. 

On  the  evening  of  August  28th,  upon  the  Boston  and  New 
York  circuit,  at  one  moment  there  was  a  very  heavy  current  on 
the  wire,  and  the  next  none  at  all.  On  the  Albany  and  Spring- 
field circuit,  &  flash  passed  across  from  the  break-key  of  the  tele- 
graph apparatus  to  the  iron  frame,  the  flame  of  which  was  about 
half  the  size  of  an  ordinary  jet  of  gas.  It  was  accompanied  by  a 
humming  sound,  similar  to  a  heavy  current  passing  between  two 
metal  points  almost  in  contact.  The  heat  was  sufficient  to  cause 
the  smell  of  scorched  wood  and  paint  to  be  plainly  perceptible. 

Observations  made  at  New  York  by  J.  C.  CROSSON,  Tele- 
graph Operator. 

On  the  evening  of  August  28th,  at  7£  o'clock,  I  experienced 
considerable  difficulty  in  working,  on  account  of  the  variation  of 
current.  I  could  work  south  by  constantly  altering  the  adjustment 
of  my  magnets,  but  the  magnetism  on  the  eastern  circuit  was  so 
nearly  destroyed  that  I  could  do  nothing.  About  ten  o'clock  I 
could  see  nothing  of  the  aurora  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  yet 
the  same  variations  of  current  were  manifest  upon  the  line  for  an 
hour  afterward.  There  was  during  this  time  a  very  strong  turn- 
ing current  from  the  east,  which  resembled  a  reversed  current  so 
much  that  I  disconnected  my  battery  and  put  on  a  "  ground,"  but  I 
could  not  then  get  magnetism  sufficient  to  work  a  simple  armature. 
At  12h*  30m*  the  current  from  the  east  assumed  a  new  feature,  pro- 
ducing enough  magnetism  to  work  quite  well,  yet  wavering  and 
varying  in  intensity. 

Observations  made  at  Philadelphia,  communicated  by  H.  EMMONS 
THAYER,  Telegraph  Superintendent. 

On  the  evening  of  August  28th,  about  8  o'clock,  we  lost  current 
on  ah1  our  four  wires  running  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York, 


324    ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

and  we  had  strong  circuit,  as  if  from  a  near  ground  connection ; 
but  there  was  no  interruption  on  wires  running  south  to  Baltimore 
and  "Washington.  At  9h-  10m-  the  wires  were  relieved  to  a  great 
extent  from  the  influence  of  the  aurora,  giving  us  our  usual  work- 
ing current. 

On  testing  wires  at  8  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September  2d, 
I  found  two  of  our  wires,  those  running  via  Camden  and  Amboy 
to  New  York,  strongly  under  the  influence  of  an  aurora.  The 
effect  was  different  from  that  of  August  28th.  There  was  an  in- 
tensity of  current  which  gave  a  severe  shock  when  testing,  giving 
a  reversed  current,  neutralizing  our  batteries,  and  destroying  mag- 
netism. On  removing  the  batteries  we  had  a  very  strong  circuit, 
giving  powerful  magnetism,  but  could  not  raise  New  York.  On 
the  line  running  from  this  city  to  Pittsburg,  the  operator,  Mr. 
Steacy,  succeeded  in  transmitting  a  business  message  to  Pitts- 
burg  wholly  on  the  auroral  current.  The  current  was  changeable, 
suddenly  disappearing  and  returning  at  intervals  of  from  five  to 
ten  minutes.  The  signals  were  distinct,  and  the  conversation 
lasted  four  or  five  minutes,  the  operators  exchanging  remarks  as 
to  the  singularity  of  the  phenomenon.  At  9  A.  M.  all  the  wires 
were  relieved  from  the  effects  of  the  aurora,  and  worked  well  as 
usual. 

Observations  made  at   Washington,  D.  C.,  by  FREDERICK  W. 
ROYCE,   Telegraph   Operator. 

On  the  evening  of  August  28th  I  had  great  difficulty  in  work- 
ing the  line  to  Richmond,  Va.  It  seemed  as  if  there  was  a  storm 
at  Richmond.  I  therefore  abandoned  that  wire,  and  tried  to  work 
the  northern  wire,  but  met  with  the  same  difficulty.  For  five  or 
ten  minutes  I  would  have  no  trouble;  then  the  current  would 
change,  and  become  so  weak  that  it  could  hardly  be  felt.  It 
would  then  gradually  change  to  a  "  ground  "  so  strong  that  I  could 
not  lift  the  magnet.  The  aurora  disappeared  at  a  little  after  ten 
o'clock,  after  which  we  had  no  difficulty.  During  the  auroral  dis- 
play, I  was  calling  Richmond,  and  had  one  hand  on  the  iron  plate. 
Happening  to  lean  towards  the  sounder,  which  is  against  the  wall, 
my  forehead  grazed  a  ground  wire.  Immediately  I  received  a 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  325 

very  severe  electric  shock,  which  stunned  me  for  an  instant.  An 
old  man  who  was  sitting  facing  me,  and  but  a  few  feet  distant, 
said  that  he  saw  a  spark  of  fire  jump  from  my  forehead  to  the 
sounder. 

Observations  made   at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,   communicated  by  E.  W. 
CULGAN,  Telegraph  Manager. 

During  the  aurora  of  August  28th,  the  intensity  of  the  current 
evolved  from  it  varied  very  much,  being  at  times  no  stronger  than 
an  ordinary  battery,  and  then,  suddenly  changing  the  poles  of  the 
magnets,  it  would  sweep  through  them,  charging  them  to  their 
utmost  capacity,  and  compelling  a  cessation  of  work  while  it  con- 
tinued. 

On  the  morning  of  September  2d,  at  my  request,  the  Philadel- 
phia operator  detached  his  battery,  mine  being  already  off.  "We 
then  worked  with  each  other  at  intervals  as  long  as  the  auroral 
current  continued,  which  varied  from  thirty  to  ninety  seconds. 
During  these  working  intervals  we  exchanged  messages  with 
much  satisfaction,  and  we  worked  more  steadily  when  the  batteries 
were  off  than  when  they  were  attached. 

On  the  night  of  August  28th  the  batteries  were  attached,  and 
on  breaking  the  circuit  there  were  seen  not  only  sparks  (that  do 
not  appear  in  the  normal  condition  of  a  working  line),  but  at  in- 
tervals regular  streams  of  fire,  which,  had  they  been  permitted  to 
last  more  than  an  instant,  would  certainly  have  fused  the  platinum 
points  of  the  key,  and  the  helices  became  so  hot  that  the  hand  could 
not  be  kept  on  them.  These  effects  could  not  have  been  produced 
by  the  batteries. 

This  seems  almost  too  wonderful  for  belief,  and  yet  the  proof 
is  incontestable.  However,  the  fact  being  established  that  the 
currents  from  the  aurora  borealis  do  have  a  direct  effect  upon  the 
telegraph  wires,  and  that  the  currents  are  of  both  kinds,  positive 
and  negative,  as  we  have  shown  in  our  remarks  upon  the  aurora 
of  1852,  which  sometimes  left  a  dark  line  upon  the  prepared 
paper,  and  at  other  times  bleached  it,  —  it  is  a  natural  conse- 
quence that  the  wires  should  work  better  without  batteries  than 
28 


326     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

with  them,  whenever  a  current  from  the  aurora  has  sufficient 
intensity  to  neutralize  the  current  from  the  batteries. 

We  will  try  to  be  clear  upon  this  point.  It  makes  no  difference 
in  working  the  Morse,  or  any  other  system  of  magnetic  telegraph, 
whether  we  have  the  positive  or  the  negative  pole  to  the  line ; 
but  whichever  way  we  point  in  commencing,  the  same  direction 
must  be  continued  with  all  additional  batteries  put  upon  the  line. 
Now  if  we  put  a  battery  upon  the  line  at  Boston,  of  say  twenty- 
five  cells,  and  point  the  positive  pole  eastward,  and  the  same  num- 
ber of  cells  at  Portland,  pointing  the  positive  pole  westward,  the 
current  will  be  null,  that  is  to  say,  each  will  neutralize  the  other. 
Now  the  aurora,  in  presenting  its  positive  pole,  we  will  say, 
increases  the  current  upon  the  line  beyond  the  power  of  the 
magnet-keeper  spring  to  control  it,  and  thus  prevents  the  line 
from  working,  by  surfeiting  it  with  the  electric  current ;  until, 
presently,  the  wave  recedes  and  is  followed  by  a  negative  current, 
which  neutralizes  the  battery  current,  and  prevents  the  line  from 
working  for  want  of  power.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that,  if  the 
batteries  be  taken  off,  the  positive  current  of  the  aurora  cannot 
increase,  nor  the  negative  decrease,  the  working  state  of  the  line 
to  the  same  extent  as  when  the  batteries  are  connected;  but 
that,  whichever  pole  is  presented,  the  magnetism  can  be  made 
use  of  by  the  operator  for  the  ordinary  duties  of  the  line. 

At  Springfield,  a  gentleman  who  observed  the  needle  of  the 
compass,  during  the  auroral  display  of  August  28th,  noticed  that 
it  was  deflected  first  to  the  west,  and  then  to  the  east,  while  the 
waves  of  the  aurora  were  in  motion.  The  electrotype  plates  at 
the  office  of  the  "  Republican  "  at  that  place  were  so  seriously 
affected  by  the  aurora,  that  they  could  not  be  printed  from  during 
the  continuance  of  the  phenomenon. 

The  aurora  borealis  of  August  28th  was  surpassingly  brilliant, 
not  only  in  the  northern  portion  of  this  continent,  but  also  as  far 
south  as  the  equator,  —  as  well  as  in  Cuba,  Jamaica,  California, 
and  the  greater  portion  of  Europe.  The  London  newspapers  of 
the  29th  contain  glowing  descriptions  of  it.  A  California  journal 
says  :  "  During  the  last  ten  years  the  aurora  borealis  was  never 
seen  in  California  except  on  very  rare  occasions,  and  then  the 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  327 

light  was  very  faint  or  barely  visible ;  but  on  the  28th  ult.  it 
appeared  in  wonderful  splendor,  the  whole  northern  part  of  the 
sky  being  of  a  bright  crimson  ;  and  the  same  phenomenon,  with 
equal  magnificence,  was  repeated  on  the  night  of  the  1st  in- 
stant." 

In  Jamaica  the  aurora  borealis  was  witnessed  for  the  first  time, 
perhaps,  since  the  discovery  of  this  island  by  Columbus.  So  rare 
is  the  phenomenon  in  those  latitudes,  that  it  was  taken  for  the 
glare  of  a  fire,  and  was  associated  with  the  recent  riots. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Elliot  of  Boston,  in  an  interesting  article  upon  the 
recent  aurora,  points  out  the  simultaneous  occurrence  of  the  au- 
roral display  of  February  19th,  1852,  with  the  eruption  of  Mauna 
Loa,  —  the  largest  volcano  in  the  world,  situated  on  Hawaii  (one 
of  the  Sandwich  Island  group),  —  on  the  20th  of  February  ;  on 
which  occasion  the  side  of  the  mountain  gave  way  about  two 
thirds  of  the  distance  from  the  base,  giving  passage  to  a  magnifi- 
cent stream  of  lava,  five  hundred  feet  deep  and  seven  hundred 
broad. 

Again,  on  the  17th  of  December,  1857,  between  the  hours  of 
one  and  four  in  the  morning,  there  occurred  an  aurora  of  un- 
wonted magnificence.  The  first  steamer  arriving  from  Europe 
after  that  date  brought  the  following  intelligence,  which  is  taken 
from  one  of  the  journals  of  the  day :  "  An  earthquake  took  place 
on  the  night  of  the  17th,  throughout  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Naples,  but  its  effects  were  most  severe  in  the  towns  of  Sa- 
lerno, Potenza,  and  Nola.  At  Salerno,  the  walls  of  the  houses 
were  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  Numerous  villages  were  half  de- 
stroyed." 

Were  these  coincidences  of  extraordinary  auroras  with  extraor- 
dinary commotions  in  the  physical  condition  of  our  globe  merely 
accidental  ?  or  are  these  phenomena  due  to  a  common  cause  ? 
The  latter  supposition  is  not  improbable,  but  the  question  can 
be  fully  settled  only  by  further  observations. 

Mr.  Meriam,  "  the  sage  of  Brooklyn,"  as  the  daily  journals 
denominate  him,  considers  the  aurora  as  the  result  of  earth- 
quakes or  volcanic  eruptions.  He  also  says  :  "  The  auroral  light 
sometimes  is  composed  of  threads,  like  the  silken  warp  of  a 


328     ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

web  ;  these  sometimes  become  broken  and  fall  to  the  earth,  and 
possess  exquisite  softness  and  a  silvery  lustre,  and  I  denominate 
them  the  products  of  the  silkery  of  the  skies.  /  once  obtained 
a  small  piece,  which  I  preserved" 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  Meriam,  as  well  as  to  the  scientific  world,  to 
say,  that  he  stands  alone  in  his  convictions  with  regard  to  the 
aurora,  both  in  respect  of  the  cause  and  the  effect  of  the  phe- 
nomenon. 

Having  thus  illustrated  the  effects  of  the  aurora,  let  us  now 
return  to  the  discussion  of  its  causes. 

The  intimate  and  constant  connection  between  the  phenomena 
of  the  aurora  borealis  and  terrestrial  magnetism  led  Humboldt 
to  class  under  the  head  of  Magnetic  Storms  all  disturbances  in 
the  equilibrium  of  the  earth's  magnetic  forces.  The  presence  of 
such  storms  is  indicated  by  the  oscillations  of  the  magnetized 
needle,  the  disturbance  of  the  currents  upon  the  telegraph-wires, 
and  the  appearance  of  the  aurora,  of  which  these  oscillations 
and  disturbances  are,  as  it  were,  the  forerunners,  and  which  itself 
puts  an  end  to  the  storm,  —  as  in  electric  storms  the  phenomenon 
of  lightning  announces  that  the  electrical  equilibrium,  temporarily 
disturbed,  is  now  restored. 

The  atmosphere  is  constantly  charged  with  positive  electricity, 
—  electricity  furnished  by  the  vapors  that  rise  from  the  sea,  es- 
pecially in  tropical  regions,  —  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  earth 
is  negatively  electrized.  The  recomposition  or  neutralization  of 
the  two  opposite  electricities  of  the  atmosphere  and  of  the  terres- 
trial globe  is  brought  about  by  means  of  the  moisture  with  which 
the  lower  strata  of  the  air  are  more  or  less  charged.  But  it 
is  especially  in  the  polar  regions,  where  the  eternal  ice  that 
reigns  constantly  condenses  the  aqueous  vapors  under  the  form  of 
haze,  that  this  recomposition  must  be  brought  about ;  the  more 
so,  as  the  positive  vapors  are  carried  thither  and  accumulated  by 
the  tropical  current,  which,  setting  out  from  the  equatorial  re- 
gions, where  it  occupies  the  most  elevated  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere, descends  as  it  advances  towards  the  higher  latitudes,  until 
it  comes  in  contact  with  the  earth  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 


TEKKESTEIAL  MAGNETISM,  329 

poles.  It  is  there,  then,  chiefly,  that  the  equilibrium  between  the 
positive  electricity  of  the  vapors  and  the  negative  electricity  of 
the  earth  must  be  accomplished  by  means  of  a  discharge,  which, 
when  of  sufficient  intensity,  will  be  accompanied  with  light,  if, 
as  is  almost  always  the  case  near  the  poles,  and  sometimes  in  the 
higher  parts  of  the  atmosphere,  it  take  place  among  those  ex- 
tremely small  icy  particles  which  constitute  the  hazes  and  the 
very  elevated  clouds. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  occurrence  of  the  phenom- 
enon is  materially  dependent  on  the  presence  in  the  atmosphere 
of  these  particles  of  ice,  forming  a  kind  of  thin  haze,  which, 
becoming  luminous  by  the  transmission  of  electricity,  must  ap- 
pear simply  as  an  illuminated  surface  of  greater  or  less  extent, 
and  more  or  less  cut  up.  The  phenomenon  actually  takes  place 
in  this  manner  in  the  parts  of  the  atmosphere  that  are  the  most 
distant  from  the  earth.  We  perceive  what  are  termed  auroral 
plates  of  a  purple  or  reddish-violet  color,  more  or  less  extend- 
ed, according  as  this  species  of  veil,  formed  by  icy  particles, 
extends  to  a  greater  or  less  distance  from  the  poles.  The  te- 
nuity of  this  veil  is  such,  that  it  admits  of  our  seeing  the  stars 
through  the  auroral  plates.  Of  its  existence,  independently  of 
indirect  proofs,  we  have  a  direct  demonstration  in  the  observa- 
tion of  MM.  Bixio  and  Baral,  who,  being  raised  in  a  balloon 
to  a  great  height,  found  themselves,  on  a  sudden,  although  the 
sky  was  entirely  serene  and  the  atmosphere  cloudless,  in  the 
midst  of  a  perfectly  transparent  veil,  formed  by  a  multitude  of 
little  icy  needles,  so  fine  that  they  were  scarcely  visible. 

If  we  place  the  pole  of  an  electro-magnet  over  the  jets  of 
electric  light  that  are  made  to  converge  in  extremely  rarefied 
air,  we  shall  see  that  the  electric  light,  instead  of  coming  out 
indifferently  from  all  points  of  the  upper  surface,  as  had  taken 
place  before  the  magnetization,  comes  out  from  the  points  of 
the  circumference  only  of  this  surface,  so  as  to  form  around 
it  a  continuous  luminous  ring.  This  ring  possesses  a  move- 
ment of  rotation  around  the  magnetized  cylinder,  sometimes  in 
one  direction,  sometimes  in  another,  according  to  the  direction 
of  the  discharge  and  of  the  magnetization.  Finally,  some  more 
28* 


330     ELECTKICAL  DISTURBANCES   ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

brilliant  jets  seem  to  come  out  from  this  luminous  circumference 
without  being  confounded  with  the  rest  of  the  group.  Now 
the  magnetic  pole  exercises  over  the  luminous  haze  which  we 
have  mentioned  as  always  present  during  an  aurora  precisely 
the  same  action  which  the  pole  of  the  electro-magnet  exercises 
in  the  experiment  just  described ;  and  what  takes  place  on  the 
small  scale  of  the  experiment  is  precisely  what  takes  place  on 
the  large  scale  of  the  phenomenon  of  the  aurora  borealis. 

The  arc  of  the  aurora  borealis  is  a  portion  of  a  luminous 
ring,  the  different  points  of  which  are  sensibly  at  equal  distances 
from  the  earth,  and  which  centres  upon  the  boreal  magnetic 
pole,  so  as  to  cut  at  right  angles  all  the  magnetic  meridians 
that  converge  towards  this  pole.  Such  a  ring,  seen  by  an  ob- 
server placed  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  evidently  presents 
to  him  the  known  arc  of  the  aurora ;  and  its  apparent  summit 
is  always  necessarily  situated  in  the  magnetic  meridian  of  the 
place. 

The  diameter  of  the  luminous  ring  is  greater  in  proportion 
as  the  magnetic  pole  is  more  distant  from  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  since  this  pole  must  be  situated  upon  the  intersection 
of  the  plane  of  the  ring  with  the  axis  of  the  terrestrial  globe  ; 
if  we  could  determine  rigorously  the  position  of  the  aurora 
borealis,  we  should  then  have  the  means  of  knowing  exactly 
that  of  the  pole  itself. 

Each  observer  sees  the  summit  of  the  auroral  arc  at  his 
magnetic  meridian  ;  it  is,  therefore,  only  those  who  are  on  the 
same  magnetic  meridian  who  see  the  same  summit,  and  who 
are  able  by  simultaneous  observations  to  take  its  height. 

If  the  summit  of  the  arc  pass  beyond  the  zenith  of  the  ob- 
server, the  latter  is  surrounded  by  the  matter  of  the  aurora 
borealis.  This  matter  is  nothing  else  than  aqueous  vapors  trav- 
ersed by  the  discharges,  and  which  are  in  general  luminous 
only  at  a  certain  height  from  the  ground,  either  because  the 
air  is  there  more  rarefied,  or  because  they  are  themselves  con- 
gealed, and  more  capable,  consequently,  of  liberating  their  elec- 
tric light.  Then  it  is,  that,  from  being  nearer  to  the  spot  where 
the  phenomenon  is  taking  t>lace,  the  observer  hears  the  crepi- 


TERRESTRIAL  MAGNETISM.  331 

tation,  or  whizzing,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  especially  if  he 
be  in  an  open  country  and  in  a  quiet  place.  But  if  the  arc 
do  not  attain  to  his  zenith,  he  is  situated  beyond  the  region 
in  which  the  meeting  of  the  electric  currents  takes  place  ;  he 
sees  only  an  arc  a  little  more  elevated  to  the  north  or  the 
south,  according  as  he  is  situated  in  one  hemisphere  or  the 
other,  and  he  hears  no  noise,  on  account  of  his  too  great  dis- 
tance. The  crepitation  is  the  result  of  the  action  of  a  powerful 
magnetic  pole  upon  luminous  electric  jets  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood. With  regard  to  the  sulphurous  odor  which  some  ob- 
servers have  perceived,  it  arises,  as  does  that  which  accompanies 
the  fall  of  lightning,  from  the  conversion  into  ozone  of  the  oxy- 
gen of  the  air,  by  the  passage  of  electric  discharges. 

Gisler  says,  that  on  the  high  mountains  of  Sweden  the  trav- 
eller is  sometimes  suddenly  enveloped  in  a  very  transparent  fog, 
of  a  whitish-gray  color,  inclining  a  little  to  green,  which  rises 
from  the  ground,  and  is  transformed  into  an  aurora  borealis. 
The  cirro-cumulus  and  the  hazes  become  luminous  when  they 
are  traversed  by  sufficiently  energetic  discharges  of  electricity, 
and  when  the  light  of  day  is  no  longer  present  to  overcome  their 
more  feeble  light.  Dr.  Usher  describes  an  aurora  borealis  seen 
in  the  open  day,  at  noon,  May  24,  1778. 

MM.  Cornulier  and  Verdier  are  convinced,  after  carefully 
studying  the  subject,  that  there  are  almost  always  auroras  bore- 
ales  in  the  high  polar  latitudes,  and  that  their  brilliancy  alone  is 
variable.  This  conviction  is  in  accordance  with  the  very  careful 
observations  which  have  now  been  made  for  four  years  in  the 
northern  hemisphere.  It  appears,  as  the  result  of  these,  that  the 
aurora  borealis  is  visible  almost  every  clear  night,  but  it  does  not 
show  itself  at  all  the  stations  at  the  same  time.  From  October 
to  March  there  is  scarcely  a  night  in  which  it  may  not  be  seen ; 
but  it  is  in  February  that  it  is  most  brilliant.  In  1850  it  was 
observed  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  nights,  and  during  1851  two 
hundred  and  seven.  The  proportion  of  nights  in  which  the  au- 
rora is  seen  is  much  greater  the  nearer  we  are  to  the  magnetic 
pole. 

De  la  Rive,  from  whose  admirable  treatise  upon  Electricity  we 


332      ELECTRICAL  DISTURBANCES  ON  TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

have  borrowed  our  general  views,  and  whose  theory  we  have 
attempted  to  illustrate  in  this  chapter,  concludes  that  the  aurora 
borealis  is  a  phenomenon  which  has  its  seat  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  consists  in  the  production  of  a  luminous  ring  of  greater  or 
less  diameter,  having  for  its  centre  the  magnetic  pole.  Experi- 
ment shows,  as  we  have  seen,  that,  on  bringing  about  in  rarefied 
air  the  reunion  of  the  two  electricities,  near  the  pole  of  a  pow- 
erful artificial  magnet,  a  small  luminous  ring  is  produced,  similar 
to  that  which  constitutes  the  aurora  borealis,  and  animated  by  a 
similar  movement  of  rotation.  The  aurora  borealis  would  be 
due,  consequently,  to  electric  discharges  taking  place  in  the  polar 
regions  between  the  positive  electricity  of  the  atmosphere  and 
the  negative  electricity  of  the  earth.  These  electric  discharges 
taking  place  constantly,  but  with  intensities  varying  according  to 
the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  the  aurora  borealis  should  be  a  daily 
phenomenon,  more  or  less  intense,  consequently  visible  at  greater 
or  less  distances,  but  only  when  the  nights  are  clear,  —  which  is 
perfectly  in  accordance  with  observation. 

The  aurora  australis  presents  precisely  the  same  phenomena  as 
the  aurora  borealis,  and  is  explained,  consequently,  in  the  same 
manner. 


PART    IX. 

MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

DISCOVERY  OF  THE  INTENSITY  MAGNET. 

IN  1 838,  Messrs.  Morse  and  Smith,  proprietors  of  the  Morse 
patent,  went  to  Europe  to  take  out  letters  patent  for  the  appa- 
ratus. Mr.  Smith  relates  a  curious  circumstance  in  relation  to 
this  visit,  it  being  nothing  less  than  a  discovery  of  the  intensity- 
magnet  in  operation  at  Paris, — a  discovery  of  more  value  to  them 
than  the  obtaining  of  patents  from  every  government  in  Europe. 

It  seems  that  the  electro-magnet,  —  the  most  vital  part  of  the 
Morse  apparatus,  —  which  they  took  with  them,  weighed  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  !  As  this  immense  affair 
was  carried  about  in  England  and  France,  and  guarded  with 
great  care,  the  people  everywhere  eyed  it  with  suspicion,  evi- 
dently imagining  it  to  be  an  infernal  machine,  destined  to  create 
some  awful  destruction ! 

Happening  one  day,  while  in  Paris,  to  enter  a  public  institu- 
tion, they  saw  a  coil  of  the  same  form  as  their  ponderous  helix, 
but  weighing  less  than  a  hundredth  as  much,  performing  the 
same  operation  that  their  apparatus  was  designed  for.  They 
were  of  course  amazed,  and  Mr.  Smith,  turning  to  Mr.  Morse, 
remarked,  "  Here  is  the  essence  of  your  magnet  distilled,  and 
presented  in  suitable  proportions."  Upon  examining  the  con- 
struction of  the  coil,  they  found  it  to  consist  of  a  vast  number  of 
convolutions  of  very  fine  copper  wire  wound  with  silk,  —  the 
wire  being,  instead  of  the  large  size  used  by  Mr.  Morse,  which 


334  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

was  one  sixteenth  of  an  inch,  only  a  hundredth  part  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  thus  giving  the  magnet  a  vast  and  intense  power  in 
a  small  compass. 

This  modification  of  the  electro-magnet  was  at  once  adopted, 
and  is  the  form  used  upon  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  electro-magnetic 
telegraphs  in  the  world,  excepting  House's,  which  uses  axial 
electro-magnetism.  The  large  wire  coil  in  fact,  though  powerful 
upon  a  short  circuit,  is  incapable  of  producing  any  effects  upon  a 
telegraph  line  of  even  half  a  mile  in  length. 

The  development  of  the  motor  function  of  electricity,  or  the 
means  by  which  electro-magnetic  power  can  be  exerted  at  a  dis- 
tance, is  due  to  the  early  experiments  of  Professor  Henry,  whose 
discoveries  in  electro-magnetism,  and  especially  of  the  quantity 
and  intensity  of  the  magnet,  in  1830,  laid  the  foundation  for  all 
subsequent  forms  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  made 
subsequent  steps  comparatively  easy.  From  recent  investiga- 
tions, however,  it  would  appear  that  the  French  were  the  first  to 
avail  themselves  of  this  important  discovery,  and  put  the  inten- 
sity magnet  in  practical  operation. 

MUSIC  BY  TELEGRAPH. 

It  is  an  amusing  fact,  that  music  has  actually  been  transmitted 
by  the  Morse  telegraph,  by  means  of  its  rhythm ;  in  fact,  it  is 
of  very  frequent  occurrence  upon  all  lines.  The  following  is 
related  by  Mr.  Jones,  who  was  an  ear-witness  of  the  experiment 
in  New  York  :  — 

"We  were  in  the  Hanover  Street  office  when  there  was  a 
pause  in  business  operations.  Mr.  Porter,  of  the  Boston  office, 
asked  what  tune  we  would  have.  We  replied,  l  Yankee  Doodle;' 
and  to  our  surprise  he  immediately  complied  with  our  request. 
The  instrument  commenced  drumming  the  notes  of  the  tune  as 
perfectly  and  distinctly  as  a  skilful  drummer  could  have  made 
them  at  the  head  of  a  regiment ;  and  many  will  be  astonished  to 
hear  that  Yankee  Doodle  can  travel  by  lightning.  We  then 
asked  for  '  Hail  Columbia ! '  when  the  notes  of  that  national  air 
were  distinctly  beat  off.  We  then  asked  for  'Auld  Lang  Syne,' 
which  was  given,  and  *  Old  Dan  Tucker,'  when  Mr.  Porter  also 


MUSIC  BY  TELEGRAPH.  335 

sent  that  tune,  and,  if  possible,  in  a  more  perfect  manner  than 
the  others.  So  perfectly  and  distinctly  were  the  sounds  of  the 
tunes  transmitted,  that  good  instrumental  performers  could  have 
had  no  difficulty  in  keeping  time  with  the  instruments  at  this  end 
of  the  wires." 

That  a  pianist  in  Boston  should  execute  a  fantasia  at  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Washington,  and  New  Orleans  at  the  same 
moment,  and  with  the  same  spirit,  expression,  and  precision  as  if 
the  instruments,  at  these  distant  places,  were  under  his  fingers,  is 
not  only  within  the  limits  of  practicability,  but  really  presents  no 
other  difficulty  than  may  arise  from  the  expense  of  the  perform- 
ances. From  what  has  just  been  stated,  it  is  clear  that  the  time 
of  music  has  been  already  transmitted,  and  the  production  of  the 
sounds  does  not  offer  any  more  difficulty  than  the  printing  of  the 
letters  of  a  despatch. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  pitch  of  any  musical  note  is  the  con- 
sequence of  the  rate  of  vibration  of  the  string  by  which  it  is 
produced,  and  that  the  more  rapid  the  vibration  the  higher  the 
note  will  be  in  the  musical  scale,  and  the  slower  the  vibration  the 
lower  it  will  be.  Thus  the  string  of  a  piano-forte  which  pro- 

duces the  base  note  vibrates  132  times  in  a  sec- 


ond ;  that  which  produces   the  note  '——-   vibrates  66 

times  in  a  second  ;  and  that  which  produces  the  note  / 
vibrates  264  tunes  in  a  second. 

On  a  seven-octave  piano-forte,  the  highest  note  in  the  treble  is 
three  octaves  above  /K—  <s  —  :,  and  the  lowest  note  in  the 

base  is  four  octaves  below  it.  The  number  of  complete  vibra- 
tions corresponding  to  the  former  must  be  3,520  per  second  ;  and 
the  number  of  vibrations  corresponding  to  the  latter  is  274-. 

By  means  of  very  simple  expedients,  the  current  may  be  in- 
terrupted hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  times  in  a  second,  being 
fully  re-established  in  the  intervals.  If  the  pulsations  of  the 
current  be  produced  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  per  second,  the  al- 
ternate presence  and  absence  of  the  magnetic  virtue  in  the  soft 


336  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

iron  will  equally  be  produced  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  per  sec- 
ond. Nor  are  these  effects  in  any  way  modified  by  the  distance 
of  the  place  of  interruption  of  the  current  from  the  magnet. 
Thus,  pulsations  of  the  current  may  be  produced  by  an  operator 
in  Boston,  and  the  simultaneous  pulsations  of  the  magnetism  may 
take  place  in  New  Orleans,  provided  only  that  the  two  places  are 
connected  by  a  continuous  series  of  conducting-wires. 

When  it  is  stated  that  the  vibrations  imparted  by  the  pulsa- 
tions of  the  current  to  levers  have  produced  musical  notes  nearly 
two  octaves  higher  than  the  highest  note  on  a  seven-octave  piano, 
tuned  to  concert  pitch,  it  may  be  conceived  in  how  rapid  a  man- 
ner the  transmission  and  suspension  of  the  electric  current,  the 
acquisition  and  loss  of  magnetism  in  the  soft-iron  rods,  and  the 
consequent  oscillation  of  the  lever  upon  which  these  rods  act,  take 
place.  The  string  which  produces  the  highest  note,  on  such  a 
piano,  vibrates  3,520  times  per  second.  A  string  which  would 
produce  a  note  an  octave  higher  would  vibrate  7,040  times  per 
second,  and  one  which  would  produce  a  note  two  octaves  higher 
would  vibrate  14,080  times  per  second. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  stated,  that  by  the  marvellously  subtile 
action  of  the  electric  current,  the  motion  of  a  pendulum  is  pro- 
duced, by  which  a  single  second  of  time  is  divided  into  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  thousand  equal  parts. 

The  adaptation  of  this  power  to  the  production  of  music  upon 
telegraphic  piano-fortes  at  any  distance  which  may  be  desired,  is  a 
matter  of  the  utmost  simplicity,  capable  of  being  successfully  car- 
ried into  practice  by  any  one  who  has  the  money  and  taste  for 
the  experiment. 

CELERITY  OF  TRANSMISSION. 

Although  it  be  true  that  the  signals  made  at  one  station  are 
rendered  instantaneously  apparent  at  another,  no  matter  how  dis- 
tant, it  must  not  therefore  be  inferred  that  the  transmission  of 
messages  by  the  telegraph  is  equally  instantaneous.  Not  only  is 
this  not  the  case,  but  the  celerity  with  which  messages  are  con- 
veyed between  station  and  station,  so  as  to  be  rendered  practically 
available  for  the  purposes  of  intercommunication,  differs  very 


SECRECY  OF  TELEGRAPHIC   COMMUNICATIONS.          337 

much  when  one  form  of  telegraphic  instrument  or  one  set  of 
operators  is  compared  with  another. 

The  celerity  of  transmission  depends  upon  a  great  number  of 
circumstances,  the  principal  of  which,  in  the  Morse  apparatus, 
are  the  skill  and  dexterity  of  the  transmitting  operator,  the  quick- 
ness of  ear,  practice,  activity,  and  attention  of  the  receiving  opera- 
tor, the  distance  to  which  the  despatch  is  transmitted,  the  insula- 
tion of  the  wires,  and  the  weather. 

Different  operators  have  very  different  powers  as  to  celerity. 
These  powers  depend  on  practice  as  well  as  upon  natural  ability 
and  aptitude,  and  on  manual  dexterity.  Not  only  is  it  necessary 
to  transmit  the  letters  in  quick  succession,  but  to  do  so  with  such 
distinctness  that  they  shall  be  readily  interpreted,  and  with  such 
correctness  as  to  render  repetitions  unnecessary.  In  this  respect 
operators  having  equal  practice  differ  one  from  another  as  much 
as  do  clerks,  some  writing  rapidly  and  legibly ;  some  rapidly,  but 
not  legibly ;  some  legibly,  but  not  rapidly  ;  and  some  neither 
rapidly  nor  legibly.  The  relative  ability  of  operators  in  this 
respect  is  partly  mental  and  partly  mechanical,  depending  as 
much  upon  quickness  of  intelligence,  attention,  and  observation 
as  upon  manual  dexterity  and  address. 

It  is  a  remarkable  and  very  curious  circumstance,  that,  inde- 
pendently of  the  mere  rapidity,  clearness,  and  correctness  of 
transmission,  each  operator  has  a  manner  and  character  which  are 
so  peculiar  to  himself,  that  persons  receiving  his  despatch  at  a 
distance  recognize  his  personality  with  as  much  certainty  and 
facility  as  they  would  recognize  the  handwriting  of  a  correspond- 
ent, or  the  voice  and  utterance  of  a  friend  or  acquaintance,  whom 
they  might  hear  speak  in  an  adjacent  room.  The  operators 
habitually  engaged  at  each  of  the  telegraphic  stations,  in  this  way, 
soon  become  acquainted  with  those  of  all  the  other  stations  on 
the  same  line,  so  that  a  the  commencement  of  a  despatch  they 
immediately  know  who  is  transmitting  it. 

SECRECY  OF  TELEGRAPHIC  COMMUNICATIONS. 

Although  the  electric  telegraph  has  been  in  successful  opera- 
tion in  this  country  for  sixteen  years,  scarcely  an  instance  is  on 
29  v 


338  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

record  where  the  secrecy  of  a  despatch  has  been  violated.  This 
is  owing  mainly  to  the  high  sense  of  honor  which  every  operator 
feels  upon  this  point,  there  being  no  oath  of  secrecy  required, 
and  no  laws  for  the  punishment  of  its  violation ;  but  there  is  an- 
other circumstance  which,  as  experience  has  made  manifest,  has 
given  security  to  the  public  on  this  point.  It  appears  that  the 
operators  who  are  for  many  hours  laboring  at  the  instrument  in 
the  transmission  of  despatches,  word  by  word,  rarely  are  able  to 
give  that  kind  of  attention  to  the  sense  and  purport  of  the  whole 
which  would  be  necessary  to  the  clear  understanding  of  it.  Their 
attention  is  engrossed  exclusively  in  the  manipulation  necessary 
to  transmit  letter  after  letter,  and  they  have  neither  time  nor 
attention  to  spare  for  the  subject  of  the  whole  despatch.  The 
case  is  very  analogous  to  that  of  compositors  in  a  printing-office, 
who,  as  is  well  known,  may  go  through  their  work  mechanically, 
without  giving  the  least  attention  to  the  subject. 

A  sort  of  verbal  cipher,  or  abbreviations,  are  somewhat  exten- 
sively used  by  brokers,  mercantile  houses,  newspaper  reporters, 
and  others.  This  is  practised  more  for  the  sake  of  economy  than 
secrecy,  although  the  latter  purpose  is  also  attained.  The  cor- 
respondents have  a  key  in  which  are  tabulated  a  number  of  sin- 
gle words,  each  of  which  expresses  a  phrase  or  sentence,  such  as 
is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  such  communications.  The  following 
example  of  such  a  despatch  will  illustrate  the  principle.  The 
despatch  to  be  sent  consists  of  sixty-eight  words,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Flour  market  for  common  and  fair  brands  of  Western  is 
lower,  with  moderate  demand  for  home  trade  and  export ;  sales, 
8,000  bbls.  Genessee  at  $5.12.  Wheat,  prime  in  fair  demand, 
market  firm,  common  description  dull,  with  a  downward  tendency ; 
sales,  4,000  bushels  at  $  1.10.  Corn,  foreign  news  unsettled  the 
market ;  no  sales  of  importance  made.  The  only  sale  made  was 
2,500  bushels  at  67c." 

This  despatch,  when  converted  into  the  verbal  cipher,  was  ex- 
pressed in  nine  words,  as  follows :  — 

"  Bad  came  aft  keen  dark  ache  lain  fault  adopt." 

Cipher  is  not,  however,  generally  resorted  to  either  for  private 
or  public  despatches,  and  is  of  no  practical  value  except  for  trans- 
mitting stock  and  market  reports. 


BREVITY  IN  DESPATCHES.  339 


BREVITY  IN  DESPATCHES. 

The  despatches  which  pass  over  a  telegraph  line  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  if  collected  together,  would  present  a  very  curious  and 
interesting  volume  of  correspondence.  The  price  of  the  trans- 
mission of  a  message  depending  upon  the  number  of  words  which 
it  contains,  of  course  renders  the  construction  of  it  necessarily 
as  brief  as  possible.  Most  despatches  are  contained  in  less  than 
ten  words,  (exclusive  of  address  and  signature,  which  are  not 
charged  for,)  and  it  is  surprising  how  much  matter  is  often  con- 
tained in  this  brief  number.  Among  the  best  examples  of  brev- 
ity which  we  have  met  with,  however,  are  the  two  following. 

A  lady  in  a  neighboring  city,  desirous  of  ascertaining  when 
her  husband  would  return  home,  sent  him  a  message  making  the 
inquiry ;  to  which  he  responded,  that  important  business  detained 
him,  and  that  he  could  not  leave  for  some  days. 

The  lady  immediately  replied  by  sending  him  another  despatch 
in  the  following  laconic  manner :  — 

"At  Home,  August  12, 1859. 

"  To  F.  C.  P.  —  Despatch  received.     Deuteronomy  xxiv.  5. 
(Signed,)  "  KATE." 

The  gentleman  to  whom  the  despatch  was  addressed,  upon  re- 
ferring to  the  passage  in  the  Scriptures  alluded  to,  obtained  the 
following  lengthy  and  suggestive  epistle  :  — 

"  When  a  man  hath  taken  a  new  wife,  he  shall  not  go  out  to 
war,  neither  shall  he  be  charged  with  any  business :  but  he  shall 
be  free  at  home  one  year,  and  shall  cheer  up  his  wife  which  he 
hath  taken" 

The  second  example  is  the  reply  sent  to  a  person  in  a  dis- 
tant city,  who,  having  committed  some  offence  against  the  laws, 
and  run  away,  was  desirous  of  ascertaining  if  it  would  be  prudent 
for  him  to  return.  He  therefore  telegraphed  in  the  following 

laconic  style :  — 

"  New  York,  July  4,  1859. 

«  To  B.  C.  M ,  Philadelphia.      • 

« Is  everything  OK?  "  D.  T.  M." 


340  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

To  which  he  obtained  the  following  brief  reply  :  — 

"  Philadelphia,  July  4,  1859. 

«  To  D.  T.  M ,  New  York  :—  Proverbs,  chap,  xxvii.  12. 

"  B.  C.  M." 

Upon  reference  to  the  passage  indicated,  the  inquiring  indi- 
vidual obtained  the  following  valuable  advice,  which,  it  is  to  be 
presumed,  he  followed :  — 

"  A  prudent  man  foreseeth  the  evil,  and  hideth  himself;  but 
the  simple  pass  on,  and  are  punished ! " 

SEEING  THE  ELEPHANT. 

Some  years  ago  there  was  a  joke  passing  around  upon  the  dif- 
ferent telegraph  lines,  which  was  played  off  upon  a  good  many 
unsuspecting  individuals,  in  the  following  manner  :  — 

"Boston,  April  1st,  1855. 
"To  L.  E.  PHANT,  at  some  Hotel,  New  Bedford: 

"  In  leaving  this  morning,  you  neglected  to  take  your  trunk. 
What  shall  be  done  with  it  ? 

"ADAM  GOODSELL." 

By  pronouncing  the  name  of  the  party  addressed  quickly,  and 
the  signature  slowly,  a  solution  of  the  "  sell "  is  obtained,  and  you 
get  a  view  of  the  elephant  at  the  same  time ! 

READING  BY   SOUND. 

We  have  mentioned  briefly  the  substitution  of  reading  by 
sound,  instead  of  by  sight,  which  is  a  matter  of  very  great  impor- 
tance to  the  proprietors  of  telegraph  companies,  as  well  as  the 
public.  To  the  former,  because  it  saves  expense,  and  to  the  lat- 
ter, because  it  insures  greater  safety  ;  and,  finally,  to  both  for  the 
same  reasons,  for  the  interests  of  the  proprietors  and  the  public 
are  very  closely  connected. 

We  shall  not  pretend  to  say  to  whom  is  entitled  the  credit  of 
having  first  discovered  the  idea  of  reading  by  sound ;  and  if  we 
could,  it  would  be  a  matter  of  no  importance,  for  no  one,  with  a 
good  idea  of  time,  could  be  within  hearing  of  a  Morse  register  a 
day,  without  being  aware  of  its  peculiar  adaptedness  for  this  use. 


BEADING  BY  SHOCKS.  341 

The  first  time,  however,  we  saw  any  one  read  in  this  manner 
was  in  the  winter  of  1846-7,  in  New  York.  The  lines  were 
broken,  and  Mr.  O.  E.  Wood  and  ourself  were  sent  out  to  repair 
them.  Mr.  Wood  carried  a  small  electro-magnet  in  his  hand,  and 
when  we  reached  Harlem  Bridge,  he  disconnected  the  line-wire, 
arid  attached  it  to  one  end  of  the  helix-wire  ;  and  then,  uncoiling  a 
dozen  or  two  feet  of  iron  wire,  dropped  one  end  of  it  in  the  river, 
and  with  the  other  commenced  tapping  upon  the  other  ex- 
tremity of  the  helix-wire.  To  our  infinite  astonishment,  we  saw 
the  lever  fly  backward  and  forward ;  and  presently,  when  he  had 
stopped  writing,  he  received  a  reply  from  the  office  in  New  York. 
He  gave  us  the  questions  and  answers  as  he  received  and  sent 
them,  and  although  we  have  a  thousand  times  since  accomplished 
the  same  feat,  the  conversation  and  the  occurrence  are  still  indel- 
ibly fixed  in  our  memory. 

No  trick  of  legerdemain,  performed  by  the  most  successful 
necromancer,  has  ever  been  able  to  excite  so  much  interest  in  our 
mind  as  this. 

READING  BY  SHOCKS. 

There  is,  however,  still  another  mode  of  receiving  intelligence 
in  connection  with  the  Morse  lines,  besides  those  already  de- 
scribed ;  namely,  by  means  of  the  passage  of  shocks  through  the 
system.  This,  we  presume,  has  often  been  accomplished  by 
different  persons,  although  we  have  not  been  knowing  to  the  fact. 
Mr.  Milliken,  of  the  American  Telegraph  Office  in  Boston,  as- 
sures us  that  he  once  read  the  greater  part  of  a  despatch  as  it 
was  passing  over  the  wires  between  Boston  and  Portland,  and 
that  he  heard  the  Portland  operator  respond  "OK"  (all  right) 
to  it,  while  he  was  seated  upon  the  draw  at  Mystic  River  Bridge, 
and  held  the  end  of  a  wire  in  each  hand ;  thus  passing  the  cur- 
rent through  his  body,  and  enabling  him  to  read  the  letters  by  the 
duration  and  number  of  the  shocks  which  he  received. 

We  have  succeeded,  upon  several  occasions,  in  receiving  mes* 
sages  in  this  manner,  when  we  have  been  at  a  distance  from 
an  office,  and  wished  to  obtain  information  in  regard  to  the  state 
of  the  line. 

29* 


342  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

Not  long  since  we  had  been  annoyed  upon  one  of  our  wires 
by  a  very  bad  earth-current,  and,  none  of  the  repairers  being  able 
to  find  the  difficulty,  we  instituted  a  search  for  it.  Finally,  upon 
arriving  at  Neponset,  we  opened  the  circuit  at  the  draw,  and 
inquired  of  the  Boston  operator,  by  touching  the  ends  of  the 
wire  together  in  the  proper  time,  if  the  earth-current  was  be- 
tween us  and  the  Boston  office,  or  beyond.  This  he  could 
at  once  tell,  by  my  opening  the  circuit,  —  disconnecting  the 
wires ;  if  he  got  any  magnetism  when  the  wires  were  discon- 
nected, then  the  earth-current  was  between  us  and  the  office ; 
if  he  got  none,  then  the  trouble  was  beyond.  This  was  impor- 
tant for  us  to  know.  He  replied  that  he  did  get  an  earth- 
current,  when  we  opened  the  circuit.  We  asked  if  it  was  very 
strong.  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "nearly  as  strong  as  when  you 
close." 

All  this,  the  reader  will  understand,  we  received  through  our 
system,  and  interpreted  by  the  duration  and  number  of  the  shocks. 

"  There  is  trouble  also  upon  the  New  Bedford  wire,"  said  he ; 
"  I  have  not  had  any  circuit  for  nearly  half  an  hour." 

"We  then  sent  an  order  for  a  line  repairer  to  go  out  at  once  and 
repair  that  line,  and  then  recommenced  our  investigations  into 
the  location  of  the  earth-current,  which  we  shortly  afterwards 
succeeded  in  finding. 

SPIRITUAL  INTERRUPTIONS. 

We  have  mentioned  in  a  previous  article,  that  the  earth  serves 
as  a  return  wire.  The  earth,  in  fact,  from  its  immense  conduct- 
ing surface,  constitutes  the  best  conductor,  —  better  than  all  min- 
erals, for  its  resistance  to  the  passage  of  an  electric  current  has 
been  found  to  be  null.  It  being  the  same  thing,  in  fact,  to  put 
the  two  ends  of  the  wire  into  connection  with  the  earth,  as  to  bring 
them  together. 

This,  as  may  be  imagined,  is  of  vast  importance  in  the  economy 
of  working  telegraph  lines,  as  one  wire  in  every  circuit  is  thus 
saved;  but  there  are,  sometimes,  very  provoking  consequences 
resulting  from  this  cause,  namely,  the  loss  of  current  by  earth  cir- 
cuits or  "  escape." 


PRACTICAL  JOKING  BY  TELEGRAPH.  343 

An  occurrence  of  this  kind  happened  upon  the  line  between 
Boston  and  Salem  some  months  since,  which  baffled  for  weeks 
the  most  careful  research  of  experienced  repairers. 

The  earth-current  came  on  at  precisely  7  o'clock  P.  M.,  and 
was  off  at  the  commencement  of  business  in  the  morning ;  there- 
fore there  was  only  from  7  P.  M.  to  8  A.  M.  when  there  was 
any  opportunity  for  finding  it. 

Line  men  were  despatched  over  the  road  every  day  with  strict 
injunctions  to  watch  every  inch  of  the  wire,  but  still  they  reported 
that  nothing  could  be  found.  It  looked  mysterious.  Had  the 
spirits  anything  to  do  with  it?  They  had  never  yet  troubled 
the  telegraph,  but  there  must  be  a  beginning  for  all  things ;  was 
this  the  beginning  ?  We  strongly  suspected  that  it  was ! 

One  afternoon  we  went  to  Salem  ourself,  and  remained  in  the 
office  from  6£  to  7  o'clock.  We  would  see  if  it  would  come  on 
while  we  were  there.  Seven  o'clock  arrived,  no  earth-current. 
One  minute  past,  none ;  two,  none ;  three,  none ;  we  began  to  feel 
encouraged,  perhaps  it  had  "  played  out."  The  train  left  at  7.15  ; 
we  hoped  to  leave  in  that,  with  the  knowledge  that  all  was  right. 
Seven  o'clock,  four,  no  earth-current ;  seven,  five,  it  is  on  again ! 

We  were  in  for  it,  and  we  immediately  started  for  a  personal 
solution  of  the  difficulty.  Upon  walking  down  the  track  a  few 
rods  we  found  the  "  spirit,"  in  the  shape  of  an  iron  switch-rod, 
which  had  been  put  up  about  four  weeks  before,  to  switch  off  the 
Marblehead  track  at  seven  o'clock  every  morning,  and  which  was 
switched  on  at  precisely  seven  o'clock  each  afternoon.  Upon  this 
occasion  the  switchman  had  been  five  minutes  late.  He  said  he 
noticed  when  he  switched  it  on  that  it  touched  the  wires,  but  he 
did  not  know  as  it  would  do  any  damage,  as  it  was  only  iron ! 

Thus  ended  our  first  assault  upon  the  spirits. 

PRACTICAL   JOKING  BY  TELEGRAPH. 

Some  ten  years  or  more  ago  there  was  upon  the  New  York 
and  Washington  telegraph  line,  at  the  Philadelphia  station,  an 
operator  named  Thayer,  who,  besides  being  an  adept  at  the  busi- 
ness, was  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  wit,  and  exceedingly  fond 
of  a  joke,  no  matter  at  whose  expense.  At  the  New  York  ter- 


344  MISCELLANEOUS   MATTERS. 

minus  of  the  line  there  was,  upon  the  contrary,  a  steady,  matter- 
of-fact  sort  of  man,  who  was  no  appreciator  of  jokes,  and  never 
practised  them.  The  President  of  the  line  was  Hon.  B.  B.  French, 
for  many  years  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington ;  a  wit,  poet,  and  humorist,  of  course  he  appreciated  hu- 
mor wherever  he  came  across  it. 

Thayer  took  it  into  his  head  one  day  to  send  a  despatch  to  some 
fictitious  name  in  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  a  laugh 
at  the  expense  of  the  operator  at  New  York.  Accordingly  he 
composed  and  forwarded  the  following :  — 

"  Philadelphia,  April  1,  1846. 
"  To  MR.  JONES,  New  York :  — 
<k  Send  me  ten  dollars  at  once,  so  that  I  can  get  my  clothes. 

(Signed,)  "  JULIA." 

"13  words,  collect  34  cents." 

The  operator  at  New  York,  not  suspecting  any  joke,  asked  the 
Philadelphia  operator  for  the  address. 

The  Philadelphia  operator  replied,  that  "  the  young  lady  did  n't 
leave  any ;  "  and  asked  him  to  "  look  in  the  directory  for  it." 

The  New  York  operator  replied  that  he  "  had  already  done  so, 
but  that  as  there  were  over  fifty  Jones's  in  the  directory,  he  was 
at  a  loss  to  know  which  one  to  send  it  to." 

"  If  that  is  the  case,"  says  Thayer,  "  you  had  better  send  a  copy 
to  each  of  them,  and  charge  34  cents  apiece." 

The  New  York  operator  did  so,  and  I  will  give  the  result  of 
the  arrangement  in  the  words  of  the  President,  Mr.  French,  from 
whom,  a  few  days  after  this  affair,  Mr.  Thayer  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter :  — 

"New  York,  April  6,  1846. 
"MB.  THAYER:  — 

"  Sir,  —  A  few  days  since  you  sent  a  despatch  purporting  to 
come  from  one  Julia,  addressed  to  Mr.  Jones,  New  York.  The 
New  York  operator  informed  you  that  he  desired  an  address,  as 
there  were  upward  of  fifty  Jones's  in  the  directory,  and  he  was  at 
a  loss  to  know  which  one  of  them  it  was  designed  for.  You  re- 
plied, that  in  that  case  he  must  send  a  copy  to  every  one  of  them, 
and  charge  upon  each ;  and  the  operator  at  New  York,  in  the  in- 


ADVANTAGE  OF  BEADING  BY  SOUND.  345 

nocence  of  his  heart,  did  so.  Some  twenty  of  the  Jones's  paid  for 
their  despatches,  but  there  was  one  sent  to  the  residence  of  an  el- 
derly merchant  by  that  name,  who  being  away  from  home  when 
it  arrived,  it  was  opened  by  his  wife,  and  was  the  occasion  of  a 
very  unpleasant  domestic  scene.  Mr.  Jones  has  been  to  see  me 
in  relation  to  the  matter,  and  threatens  to  sue  the  company  for 
damages,  —  taking  the  thing  very  much  to  heart. 

"  Now,  this  is  all  very  funny,  and  a  good  joke,  and  I  have 
laughed  at  it  as  heartily  as  anybody ;  but  you  had  not  better  try 
it  again,  or  any  of  the  rest  of  the  operators  upon  the  line,  if  you 
value  your  situations." 

ADVANTAGE  OF  READING  BY  SOUND. 

We  chanced  to  be  conversing  with  the  manager  of  a  telegraph 
office  in  his  counting-room,  when  an  individual  entered,  and 
proceeded  to  the  counter  where  the  business  was  transacted, 
which  was  at  the  farther  side  of  the  room,  some  little  distance 
from  where  we  were  standing,  and  commenced  preparing  a 
despatch  for  the  clerk,  who  stood  ready  to  receive  it.  The  man- 
ager, with  whom  we  were  conversing,  made  several  apparently 
careless  little  taps  upon  a  shelf  before  him  with  a  pencil,  which 
he  held  in  his  hand ;  the  clerk  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  was 
also,  apparently  to  us,  drumming  listlessly  with  his  penholder  as 
he  waited  on  his  customer.  All  this  time,  while  four  of  us  were 
holding  an  animated  colloquial  intercourse,  the  apparently  care- 
less taps  of  the  two  telegraphers  were  intelligible  communications 
exchanged  between  them. 

The  following  was  the  dialogue  which  occurred :  — 

Manager.  "  Give  your  attention  for  a  despatch."  (The  usual 
taps  for  a  "  call "  of  an  operator  from  one  station  to  another  im- 
plying the  above.) 

ClerL     «  All  right ;  go  ahead." 

Manager.  "  Don't  send  that  man's  messages  unless  he  pre- 
pays in  cash." 

ClerL     "  All  right ;  won't  credit  him  a  dime." 

Manager.  "  After  he  pays  this  one,  collect  68  cents  for  mes- 
sage sent  by  him  yesterday,  which  he  was  trusted  for." 


346  MISCELLANEOUS   MATTERS. 

By  this  time  the  clerk  had  a  bank-note  which  the  dilatory  cus- 
tomer had  produced,  upon  learning  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
message  to  be  prepaid,  and  from  which  he  blandly  made  change, 
deducting  the  68  cents. 

The  communicated  sound  had  in  this  instance  proved  of  some 
little  service,  and  was  utterly  unnoticed  save-  by  the  two  parties 
interested. 

MISTAKES  OF  THE  TELEGRAPH. 

Some  ten  years  since,  there  was  a  very  ludicrous,  and  at  the 
same  time  natural  blunder,  perpetrated  upon  the  line  between 
Boston  and  New  York.  A  gentleman  sent  a  despatch  request- 
ing parties  in  New  York  to  "  forward  sample  forks  by  express." 
When  the  message  was  delivered,  it  read  thus :  "  Forward  sam- 
ple for  K.  S." 

The  parties  who  received  it  replied  by  asking  what  samples 
K.  S.  wanted. 

Of  course  the  gentleman  came  to  the  office  and  complained 
that  the  despatch  had  been  transmitted  wrong,  and  the  operator 
promised  to  repeat  it.  Accordingly  he  telegraphed  the  New  York 
operator  that  the  despatch  should  have  read,  "  Forward  sample 
forks."  The  New  York  operator,  having  read  it  wrong  in  the 
first  instance,  could  not  decipher  it  differently  now.  He  replied, 
that  he  did  read  it,  "  Sample  for  K.  S.,"  and  so  delivered  it. 

"  But,"  returned  the  Boston  operator,  "  I  did  not  say  *  for  K. 
S.,'  but  f-o-r-k-s  !  " 

"  What  a  stupid  that  fellow  is  in  Boston,"  exclaimed  the  New 
York  operator,  in  a  rage.  "  He  says  he  did  n't  say  for  K.  S.,  but 
forK.  S.!" 

The  Boston  operator  tried  for  an  hour  to  make  the  New  York 
operator  read  it  "forks,"  but  not  succeeding,  he  wrote  the  de- 
spatch upon  a  slip  of  paper,  and  forwarded  it  by  mail ;  and  it 
remained  a  standing  joke  upon  the  line  for  many  months  after- 
wards. 

Since  the  paper  has  been  abolished  upon  the  Morse  lines, 
errors  like  the  above  rarely  occur.  The  ear  is  found  to  be  a 
much  more  reliable  organ  for  the  telegrapher  than  the  eye.  We 


PERSONS  UNQUALIFIED  FOR  TELEGRAPHY.  347 

do  not  think  we  should  overshoot  the  mark  if  we  said  there  is 
not  one  error  made  in  reading  by  sound  where  there  were  ten, 
formerly,  in  reading  from  the  long  strips  of  paper.  One  reason 
is,  as  we  remarked  in  a  previous  chapter,  that  the  operator  in 
reading  by  sound  has  his  eyes  at  liberty,  and  can  write  down  his 
despatch  as  he  reads  it  by  the  tick,  with  all  the  facility  with  which 
an  expert  reporter  can  follow,  and  note  down  accurately,  all  the 
words  spoken  in  debate.  The  feat  seems  an  extraordinary  one, 
but  practice  will  accomplish  wonders. 

PERSONS  UNQUALIFIED  FOR  TELEGRAPHY. 

There  are  many  persons  who  seem  totally  incapable  of  acquir- 
ing a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  telegraphing  sufficient  for  practical 
use,  while  others,  and  especially  young  persons,  will  acquire  it, 
even  in  the  short  space  of  a  fortnight,  sufficiently  to  transmit  and 
receive  despatches  with  considerable  facility. 

A  ludicrous  example  of  this  lack  of  ability  to  operate  this  sim- 
ple apparatus  came  to  our  knowledge  quite  recently. 

A  middle-aged  man,  employed  upon  one  of  our  railroads  as 
depot-master  and  telegraph-operator,  found  great  difficulty,  after 
two  years'  experience,  in  operating  the  instrument,  and  this 
inability  extended  to  his  reading  as  well  as  his  transmitting  de- 
spatches. Upon  one  occasion  he  rushed  out  of  his  office  in  a 
great  state  of  excitement,  and  informed  the  conductor  of  a  train 
which  had  just  arrived  at  his  station,  that  he  had  just  received  a 
despatch  stating  that  the  train  had  broken  both  driving- 
wheels,  and  was  badly  smashed  up.  No  more  trains  must  pass 
until  further  orders. 

The  conductor,  who  was  able  to  read  the  telegraphic  charac- 
ters, went  to  the  instrument,  and,  drawing  out  the  paper,  read  the 
following  despatch  :  — 

u  Ask  the  conductor  of  the  Boston  train  to  examine  carefully 
the  connecting-rods  of  both  driving-wheels,,  and  if  not  in  good 
condition  to  await  orders." 

The  conductor,  having  made  the  examination  in  company  with 
the  engineer,  and  found  all  right,  gave  the  order  for  the  train  to 
move  on,  to  the  infinite  astonishment  of  the  soi-disant  operator, 


348  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

who  never  was  able  to  find  out  why  the  conductor  had  the  temer- 
ity to  order  the  train  to  go  on  under  such  grave  circumstances. 

In  the  same  village  where  this  reliable  operator  is  employed 
there  is  another  telegraph  office,  where  the  ordinary  telegraphic 
business  is  done ;  and  whenever  our  friend  receives  a  call  upon 
his  instrument,  he  gives  the  signal  to  go  ahead,  and,  after  receiv- 
ing the  despatch,  takes  it  to  the  operator  at  the  other  office  to 
have  it  translated  for  him. 

Not  long  since,  he  rushed  into  the  office  with  a  strip  of  the 
telegraph  paper  in  his  hand,  and  cried  out,  "  I  want  you  to  read 
this  for  me,  quick.  I  expect  there 's  some  awful  accident  on  the 
road,  the  operator  rattled  away  so  fast  when  he  sent  it." 

The  operator  took  the  strip,  but,  to  the  dismay  of  the  nervous 
visitor,  a  large  portion  of  it  had  been  torn  off  by  a  dog,  who  was 
attracted  by  its  singular  appearance  as  it  streamed  behind  him 
while  he  flew  along,  and  the  part  which  remained  contained  only 
these  words :  —  "  Good  morning,  Uncle  Ben.  When  are  you  —  " 
The  dog  had  swallowed  the  rest ! 

ARREST   OF  FUGITIVES  FROM  JUSTICE. 

One  of  the  most  important  uses  of  the  telegraph  is  that  of 
controlling  the  movements  of  fugitives  from  justice.  "Were  it 
not  for  the  wires,  a  rogue  having  got  one  train  the  start  of  an 
officer  might  travel  thousands  of  miles  without  the  possibility  of 
detection  or  arrest ;  but,  thanks  to  this  invention,  there  is  no  place 
so  unsafe  for  a  rogue  as  upon  a  railway,  as  nine  times  out  of  ten 
an  officer  would  be  in  waiting  at  the  depot,  when  the  train  should 
arrive,  to  arrest  him. 

A  dozen  years  ago,  before  the  use  of  the  telegraph  was  so 
common  as  it  is  now,  we  were  apprised  at  New  Haven  that  a 
man  left  Hartford  in  the  one  o'clock  train,  intending  to  take  the 
steamer  at  the  former  place  for  New  York,  and  that  he  was 
owing  a  certain  sum  of  money  which  it  was  desirable  to  obtain 
before  he  left.  His  baggage,  consisting  of  four  black  trunks,  was 
minutely  described,  and  an  officer  was  in  waiting  when  the  train 
arrived,  who  at  once  took  charge  of  it. 

When  the  owner  of  the  baggage  came  up,  the  officer  pre- 


HOW  DESPATCHES  SHOULD  BE  WRITTEN.  349 

sented  him  with  the  claim,  and  told  him  he  was  his  prisoner  until 
the  amount  was  paid  over. 

He  was  very  much  surprised  and  chagrined,  but  finally,  seeing 
there  was  no  way  of  avoiding  it,  and  the  boat  was  nearly  ready 
to  start,  he  paid  over  the  money. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  want  to  know  how  you  knew  I  was  on  this 
train." 

"  O,"  replied  the  officer,  "  I  guessed  it ! " 

"  Yes ;  but  how  did  you  come  to  recognize  me  ?  You  never 
saw  me  before,"  queried  the  gentleman  from  Hartford. 

"  O,  I  guessed  at  that,  too,"  said  the  officer. 

"  Ah !  that  may  be,"  suggested  the  nonplussed  individual ; 
"  but  how  in  thunder  did  you  come  to  guess  out  my  four  black 
trunks  so  quickly?" 

WEBSTER'S  SPEECHES  IMPROVED  BY  THE  TELEGRAPH. 

Just  previous  to  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1852,  it  will 
be  remembered,  Mr.  Webster  made  a  tour  through  New  York 
State,  during  which  he  made  a  great  many  patriotic  speeches. 
One  of  these,  made,  we  believe,  at  Albany,  was  particularly 
good,  and  abounded  in  short,  pithy  Saxon  sentences,  many  of 
which  were  in  the  form  of  interrogatories.  In  order  that  we 
might  do  full  justice  to  the  speech,  we  took  occasion  to  punctuate 
it,  as  we  read  it  to  the  copyist,  and  whenever  an  interrogatory  oc- 
curred we  said,  "  question,"  —  meaning,  of  course,  for  the  copyist 
to  make  the  sign  "  ?  "  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.  But  what  was 
our  surprise  and  horror  the  next  morning,  upon  taking  up  the 
newspapers,  to  find  them  all  embellished  with  the  word  "  ques- 
tion," printed  in  full  at  the  end  of  nearly  every  sentence. 

HOW  DESPATCHES  SHOULD  BE  WRITTEN. 

Telegrams  should  be  written  in  a  concise  style,  and  no  super- 
fluous words  employed ;  but  they  should  not  be  simply  skeleton 
sentences  strung  together,  which  it  is  questionable  if  your  cor- 
respondent would  understand  if  transmitted  correctly,  and  which 
are  very  liable  to  contain  mistakes,  from  the  greater  difficulty  of 
transmitting  such  despatches  correctly. 
30 


350  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

No  despatch,  for  instance,  should  be  so  written  as  that  by  the 
omission  of  one  word  a  different  idea  would  be  conveyed ;  or,  in 
other  words,  so  that  the  whole  tenor  of  the  despatch  centres  in 
one  word. 

In  this  country,  ten  words  can  always  be  sent  as  cheap  as  one ; 
and  yet  we  frequently  find  people,  from  the  habit  of  sending  brief 
despatches,  reducing  their  messages  to  three  or  four  words,  and 
in  this  way  many  errors  are  made. 

While  General  Taylor  was  in  Mexico,  a  despatch  was  received 
in  New  York  from  the  South,  saying,  "  General  Taylor  seen  in 
New  Orleans."  Much  speculation  was  felt  as  to  the  cause  of  his 
deserting  his  post  at  the  seat  of  war,  until  the  despatch  was  cor- 
rected by  the  substitution  of  son  for  seen,  which  in  telegraphic 
characters  are  nearly  identical. 

There  are  many  words  which,  when  written  in  telegraphic 
characters,  resemble  others  so  closely  as  frequently  to  lead  to 
curious  errors.  We  have  one  in  mind  now  to  the  point. 

A  gentleman  telegraphed  for  his  portrait  to  be  forwarded  to 
him  by  express  ;  but  when  the  despatch  arrived  it  read  thus :  — 

"  Send  post  rail  by  express." 

A  NOVEL  MEETING. 

In  accordance  with  a  previous  arrangement,  the  employes  of 
the  American  Telegraph  Company's  lines  between  Boston  and 
Calais,  Maine,  held  a  meeting  by  telegraph,  after  the  business  of 
the  line  was  concluded  for  the  day,  to  take  action  upon  the 
resignation  of  Asa  F.  Woodman,  Esq.,  Superintendent 

Thirty-three  offices  were  represented,  scattered  over  a  circuit 
of  seven  hundred  miles.  Speeches  were  made  by  Messrs.  Palmer 
and  Milliken  of  Boston,  Hayes  of  Great  Falls,  Smith  of  Port- 
land, Bedlow  of  Bangor,  Black  of  Calais,  and  others.  Each 
speaker  wrote  with  his  key  what  he  had  to  say,  and  all  the  offices 
upon  the  line  received  his  remarks  at  the  same  moment,  thus  an- 
nihilating space  and  time,  and  bringing  the  different  parties,  in 
effect,  as  near  to  each  other  as  though  they  were  in  the  same 
room,  although  actually  separated  by  hundreds  of  miles. 

After  passing  appropriate  resolutions,  the  meeting  was  ad- 


A  NOVEL  MEETING.  351 

journed  in  great  harmony  and  kindly  feeling,  having  been  in 
session  about  an  hour. 

An  account  of  the  above  meeting  having  been  published  in 
the  newspapers,  Punch  makes  the  following  humorous  sugges- 
tions, which  are  equally  applicable  to  our  Congress  :  — 

"  Now,  why  could  n't  our  Parliamentary  proceedings  be  con- 
ducted in  an  equally  silent  manner?  Do  you -think  Cobden 
would  unwind  his  many  miles  of  Manchester  yarns  without  an 
audience  ?  Do  you  fancy  Spooner  would  go  on  raving  for  hours 
when  there  was  not  a  soul  present  to  hear  him  rave  ?  And  is  it 
likely  that  Gladstone,  even,  with  all  his  love  of  talking,  would 
talk  incessantly  when  all  that  his  eloquence  could  possibly  bring 
round  was  a  dial  ?  Now  an  electric  Parliament  would  remedy 
all  the  evils  that  verbiage  at  present  inflicts  on  the  patience  of 
the  nation.  A  member  of  Parliament  would  be  able  to  attend  to 
his  legislative  duties  without  stirring  from  his  country-seat.  The 
entire  business  of  St.  Stephen's  might  be  conducted  in  a  tele- 
graph office.  The  whole  Parliamentary  staff,  with  its  numerous 
bundles  of  rods  and  sticks,  might  be  cut  down  into  a  Speaker. 
That  worthy  functionary  would  sit  in  the  middle  of  his  office,  like 
a  forewoman  in  a  milliner's  workshop,  watching  the  numerous 
needles  flying  assiduously  around  him.  When  the  work  was  done, 
he  would  collect  the  stuff  and  report  the  result.  The  threads  of 
the  various  arguments  would  run  into  his  hands,  and  it  would  be 
for  him  to  sort  them.  His  decisions  would  be  final,  and  justly  so, 
as  he  would  always  have  the  debates  at  his  finger-ends.  The 
Prime  Minister  or  Prince  Albert  might  look  in  every  quarter 
of  an  hour  to  see  that  the  Speaker  had  not  fallen  asleep. 

"Under  our  improved  plan,  one  great  benefit  would  unquestion- 
ably be  gained.  There  would  be  no  noise  !  All  zoological  exhibi- 
tions would  be  effectually  closed.  Your  Parliamentary  cocks,  don- 
keys, and  laughing  hyenas  would  be  peremptorily  shut  up,  like 
their  wooden  prototypes  in  a  boy's  Noah's  ark.  Really,  we  see 
no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  an  Electric  Parliament.  It  would,  to  a 
great  extent,  cure  the  absurd  mania  for  talking,  and,  moreover,  we 
do  not  think  the  speeches  there  would  be  half  so  wire-drawn  as 
they  are  now.  Besides,  every  little  Demosthenes,  who  at  present 


352  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

is  not  reported,  or  else  snubbed  under  the  obscure  cognomen  of 
the  '  Hon.  Member/  would  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
his  speech  had  gone  to  the  length,  at  all  events,  of  one  line,  and, 
if  he  were  at  some  distant  post,  it  might  run  perhaps  to  the  ex- 
tent of  four  or  five  lines,  according  to  the  number  of  wires  on  the 
different  telegraphs ;  whilst  your  Drummonds  and  your  Osbornes, 
as  they  indulged  in  their  electric  facetice,  might  flatter  themselves 
with  the  belief  that  they  were  fairly  convulsing  the  poles  with 


laughter." 


HOW  CYRUS  LAID  THE  CABLE. 

A    BALLAD,   BY  JOHN   G.   SAXE. 

Come,  listen  all  unto  my  song  ; 

It  is  no  silly  fable  ; 
'T  is  all  about  the  mighty  cord 

They  call  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

Bold  Cyrus  Fielfl  he  said,  says  he, 

"  I  have  a  pretty  notion 
That  I  can  run  a  telegraph 

Across  the  Atlantic  Ocean." 

Then  all  the  people  laughed,  and  said 
They  'd  like  to  see  him  do  it ; 

He  might  get  half-seas-over,  but 
He  never  could  go  through  it. 

To  carry  out  his  foolish  plan 

He  never  would  be  able ; 
He  might  as  well  go  hang  himself 

With  his  Atlantic  Cable  ! 

But  Cyrus  was  a  valiant  man,  — 

A  fellow  of  decision,  — 
And  heeded  not  their  mocking  words, 

Their  laughter  and  derision. 

Twice  did  his  bravest  efforts  fail, 
And  yet  his  mind  was  stable  ; 

He  wa'  n't  the  man  to  break  his  heart 
Because  he  broke  his  cable. 


THE   OPERATOR  AT  TRINITY  BAY.  353 

"  Once  more,  my  gallant  boys  ! "  he  cried  ; 

Three  times  !  — you  know  the  fable, — 
(I  '11  make  it  thirty"  muttered  he, 

"  But  I  will  lay  the  cable  !  ") 

Once  more  they  tried,  —  hurrah  !  hurrah  ! 

What  means  this  great  commotion  ? 
The  Lord  be  praised !  the  cable  Js  laid 

Across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ! 

Loud  ring  the  bell !  — for,  flashing  through 

Six  hundred  leagues  of  water, 
Old  Mother  England's  benison 

Salutes  her  eldest  daughter  ! 

O'er  all  the  land  the  tidings  speed, 

And  soon  in  every  nation 
They  'II  hear  about  the  cable  with 

Profoundest  admiration ! 

Now  long  live  James,  and  long  live  Vic, 

And  long  live  gallant  Cyrus  ; 
And  may  his  courage,  faith,  and  zeal 

With  emulation  fire  us  ; 

And  may  we  honor  evermore 

The  manly,  bold,  and  stable, 
And  tell  our  sons,  to  make  them  brave, 

How  Cyrus  laid  the  cable ! 

THE  OPERATOR  AT  TRINITY  BAY. 

We  have  alluded  elsewhere  to  the  mysterious  operator  at  the 
Cisatlantic  terminus  of  the  cable.  The  following  poem  is  from 
the  contributions  of  The  Professor  at  the  Breakfast-Table,  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly,  and  tends  still  further  to  immortalize  this  mys- 
tical personage. 

DE    SAUTT.      AN   ELECTRO-CHEMICAL    ECLOGUE. 

Professor.  Blue-Nose. 

PROFESSOR. 

Tell  me,  0  Provincial !  speak,  Ceruleo-Nasal ! 
Lives  there  one  De  Sauty  extant  now  among  you, 
Whispering  Boanerges,  son  of  silent  thunder, 
Holding  talk  with  nations  ? 
30*  W 


354  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

Is  there  a  De  Sauty  ambulant  on  Tellus, 
Bifid-cleft  like  mortals,  dormient  in  nightcap, 
Having  sight,  smell,  hearing,  food-receiving  feature 
Three  times  daily  patent  ? 

Breathes  there  such  a  being,  O  Ceruleo-Nasal  ? 
Or  is  he  a  mythus,  —  ancient  word  for  "humbug,"  — 
Such  as  Livy  told  about  the  wolf  that  wet-nursed 
Romulus  and  Remus  ? 

Was  he  born  of  woman,  this  alleged  De  Sauty  ? 
Or  a  living  product  of  galvanic  action, 
Like  the  acarus  bred  in  Crosse's  flint-solution  ? 
Speak,  thou  Cyano-Rhinal ! 

BLUE-NOSE. 

Many  things  thou  askest,  jackknife-bearing  stranger, 
Much-conjecturing  mortal,  pork-and-treacle  waster ! 
Pretermit  thy  whittling,  wheel  thine  ear-flap  toward  me, 
Thou  shalt  hear  them  answered. 

When  the  charge  galvanic  tingled  through  the  cable,' 
At  the  polar  focus  of  the  wire  electric 
Suddenly  appeared  a  white-faced  man  among  us, — 
Called  himself  "  DE  SAUTY." 

As  the  small  opossum  held  in  pouch  maternal 
Grasps  the  nutrient  organ  whence  the  term  mammalia, 
So  the  unknown  stranger  held  the  wire  electric, 
Sucking  in  the  current. 

When  the  current  strengthened,  bloomed  the  pale-faced  stranger, 
Took  no  drink  nor  victual,  yet  grew  fat  and  rosy,  — 
And  from  time  to  time,  in  sharp  articulation, 
Said,  "All  right!    DE  SAUTY." 

From  the  lonely  station  passed  the  utterance,  spreading 
Through  the  pines  and  hemlocks  to  the  groves  of  steeples, 
Till  the  land  was  filled  with  loud  reverberations 
Of  "All  right!    De  Sauty." 

When  the  current  slackened,  drooped  the  mystic  stranger,  — 
Faded,  faded,  faded,  as  the  shocks  grew  weaker,  — 
Wasted  to  a  shadow,  with  a  hartshorn  odor 
Of  disintegration. 


HOUSE-TOP  TELEGRAPHS.  355 

Drops  of  deliquescence  glistened  on  his  forehead, 
"Whitened  round  his  feet  the  dust  of  efflorescence, 
Till  one  Monday  morning,  when  the  flow  suspended, 
There  was  no  De  Sauty. 

Nothing  but  a  cloud  of  elements  organic, 

C.  O.  H.  N.  Ferrum,  Chor.  Flu.  Sil.  Potassa, 

Calc.  Sod.  Phosph.  Mag.  Sulphur,  Mang.  (?) 

Alumin.  (?)  Cuprum,  (?) 
Such  as  man  is  made  of. 

Born  of  stream  galvanic,  with  it  he  had  perished ! 
There  is  no  De  Sauty  now  there  is  no  current ! 
Give  us  a  new  cable,  then  again  we  '11  hear  him 
Cry,  "  All  right  I    DE  SAUTY." 

HOUSE-TOP  TELEGRAPHS.* 

About  twelve  years  ago,  when  the  tavern  fashion  of  supplying 
beer  and  sandwiches  at  a  fixed  price  became  very  general,  the 
proprietor  of  a  small  suburban  pothouse  reduced  the  system  to 
an  absurdity  by  announcing  that  he  sold  a  glass  of  ale  and  an 
electric  shock  for  fourpence.  That  he  really  traded  in  this  com- 
bination of  science  and  drink  is  more  than  doubtful,  and  his  chief 
object  must  have  been  to  procure  an  increase  of  business  by  an 
unusual  display  of  shopkeeping  wit.  "Whatever  motive  he  had  to 
stimulate  his  humor,  the  fact  should  certainly  be  put  upon  record 
that  he  was  a  man  considerably  in  advance  of  his  age.  He  was 
probably  not  aware  that  his  philosophy  in  sport  would  be  made  a 
science  in  earnest  in  the  space  of  a  few  years,  any  more  than  many 
other  bold  humorists  who  have  been  amusing  on  what  they  knew 
nothing  about.  The  period  has  not  yet  arrived  when  the  readers 
of  Bishop  Wilkins's  famous  discourse  upon  aerial  navigation  will 
be  able  to  fly  to  the  moon,  but  the  hour  is  almost  at  hand  when 
the  fanciful  announcement  of  the  beer-shop  keeper  will  represent 
an  every-day  familiar  fact.  A  glass  of  ale  and  an  electric  shock 
will  shortly  be  sold  for  fourpence,  and  the  scientific  part  of  the  bar- 
gain will  be  something  more  useful  than  a  mere  fillip  to  the  human 
nerves.  It  will  be  an  electric  shock  that  sends  a  message  across 

*  From  Dickens's  "  All  the  Year  Round." 


356  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

the  house-tops  through  the  web  of  wires  to  any  one  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  district  telegraph  stations,  that  are  to  be  scattered 
amongst  the  shopkeepers  all  over  the  town. 

The  industrious  spiders  have  long  since  formed  themselves 
into  a  commercial  company,  called  the  London  District  Telegraph 
Company  (limited),  and  they  have  silently,  but  effectively,  spun 
their  trading  web.  One  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  wire  are 
now  fixed  along  parapets,  through  trees,  over  garrets,  round 
chimney-pots,  and  across  roads  on  the  southern  side  of  the  river, 
and  the  other  one  hundred  and  twenty  required  miles  will  soon 
be  fixed  in  the  same  manner  on  the  northern  side.  The  difficulty 
decreases  as  the  work  goes  on,  and  the  sturdiest  Englishman  is 
ready  to  give  up  the  roof  of  his  castle  in  the  interests  of  science 
and  the  public  good,  when  he  finds  that  many  hundreds  of  his 
neighbors  have  already  led  the  way. 

The  out-door  mechanical  exigencies  of  this  London  district 
telegraph  require  at  least  six  house-top  resting-places  in  the  space 
of  a  mile.  To  get  these  places  at  the  nominal  rental  of  a  shilling 
a  year  (with  three  months'  notice  for  removal)  has  been  the  ob- 
ject of  the  company,  professedly  that  a  low  tariff  of  charges  may 
be  based  upon  a  moderate  outlay  of  capital  on  the  permanent 
way.  The  peculiarity  of  the  company's  operations,  in  appealing 
rather  to  the  public  sentiment  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes, 
than  to  their  sense  of  business  or  desire  for  gain,  has  prolonged 
its  out-door  negotiations  ;  though  not  to  any  great  extent.  The 
trial  may  have  been  severe,  but  the  British  householder,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  has  nobly  stood  the  test.  He  has  shown  that, 
if  properly  applied  to  and  properly  treated,  he  may  belong  to  a 
nation  of  shopkeepers,  and  yet  be  something  more  than  a  mere 
mercenary  citizen. 

The  first  time  the  proposition  to  electrify  all  London  was  brought 
before  the  British  householder,  it  was  calculated  to  inspire  consid- 
erable alarm.  The  telegraph,  as  at  present  existing,  is  not  a  pop- 
ular institution.  Its  charges  are  high ;  its  working  is  secret  and 
bewildering  to  the  average  mind.  Its  case,  as  displayed  at  the 
railway  stations,  may  look  like  a  mixture  of  the  beer-machine  and 
the  eight-day  clock;  but  the  curious  hieroglyphics  and  restless 


HOUSE-TOP  TELEGRAPHS.  357 

arrows  on  its  dial  surface  are  like  the  differential  calculus  framed 
in  a  gooseberry  tart.  The  unknown  may  masquerade  in  the  dress 
of  the  known ;  but  the  railway  porter  will  still  shake  his  head. 

When  the  sole  depositary  of  the  telegraphic  secret  has  gone  to 
dinner,  the  whole  electric  system  of  that  particular  railway  station 
must  stand  absolutely  still.  A  certain  amount  of  familiarity  will 
breed  contempt ;  an  equal  amount  of  unfamiliarity  will  breed  awe 
and  dread.  The  British  householder  has  never  seen  a  voltaic 
battery  kill  a  cow,  but  he  has  heard  that  it  is  quite  capable  of  such 
a  feat.  The  telegraph  is  worked,  in  most  cases,  by  a  powerful 
voltaic  battery,  and  therefore  the  British  householder,  having  a 
general  dread  of  lightning,  logically  keeps  clear  of  all  such  ma- 
chines. 

The  British  householder  (number  one)  took  time  to  consider. 
The  pole  that  the  company  wished  to  raise  upon  his  roof  might 
not  be  ornamental ;  might  not  suit  the  taste  of  his  wife,  who,  at 
that  moment,  was  unwell ;  might  not  meet  with  the  approbation 
of  his  landlord,  who  was  very  fastidious,  and  very  old.  If  the 
company  would  like  to  communicate  with  his  landlord,  that  gen- 
tleman was  to  be  found  in  Berkshire,  if  he  had  not  gone  to  Swit- 
zerland, if  he  was  not  up  the  Rhine.  The  British  householder 
(number  sixty)  was  only  one  of  a  firm,  and  he  could  give  no  defi- 
nite answer  without  his  partners'  consent.  The  British  house- 
holder (number  sixty-eight)  was  of  a  vacillating  disposition,  and 
after  he  had  said  yes,  he  took  the  trouble  to  run  up  the  street,  be- 
cause he  had  suddenly  decided  to  say  no.  The  British  householder 
(number  seventy)  was  the  second-mate  of  a  trading-vessel,  at  that 
time  supposed  to  be  running  along  the  South  American  coast.  His 
wife  was  not  prepared  to  say  whether  he  had  any  objection  to  a 
flagstaff  (although  she  thought  he  had  not),  and  she  could  give 
no  permission  to  the  company  until  his  return.  The  British  house- 
holder (number  seventy-four)  very  politely  allowed  the  survey  of 
his  roof;  and  when  the  most  eligible  point  was  fixed  upon,  he  had 
legal  doubts  whether  he  had  any  power  over  it,  as  it  was  on  a 
party  wall.  His  next-door  neighbor,  when  applied  to,  was  equally 
scrupulous,  and  without  counsel's  opinion  it  was  impossible  to  get 
any  further.  The  British  householder  (number  ninety)  was  in  a 


358  MISCELLANEOUS   MATTERS. 

mist  with  regard  to  the  whole  scheme.  He  associated  telegraphs 
of  all  kinds  with  large  railway  stations ;  and  large  railway  stations 
with  red  and  white  signal-lights.  He  would  sacrifice  a  good  deal 
for  science  and  the  public  interest,  but  to  have  his  parapet  glaring 
all  night  like  a  doctor's  doorway  was  more  than  he  could  bear  to 
think  of.  An  explanation,  accompanied  by  a  display  of  small 
pocket-models  (one  of  a  standard,  as  large  as  a  pencil-case,  —  the 
other  of  a  bracket,  the  size  of  a  watch)  was  necessary  to  pacify 
him,  and  when  he  found  that  no  lamp  was  required,  he  gave  his 
conditional  consent.  The  British  householder  (number  ninety- 
two)  was  inclined  to  be  facetious,  and  he  hoped  that  the  company 
would  not  do  anything  to  blow  him  up.  The  British  householder 
(number  ninety-eight)  was  only  too  glad  to  be  of  service,  but  un- 
fortunately his  house  was  so  old  and  so  crumbling,  that  not  another 
nail  could  be  driven  into  it  with  safety.  The  British  householder 
(number  five  hundred  and  four)  was  an  old  lady  subject  to  fits, 
and  she  only  wondered  what  next  would  be  proposed  to  her  to 
hurry  her  into  the  grave.  The  British  householder  (number  six 
hundred  and  ten)  was  another  old  lady,  who  worshipped  a  clean 
passage,  and  she  merely  consented  upon  condition  that  the  work-^ 
people  only  passed  through  her  house  once,  to  get  at  the  roof, 
carefully  wiping  their  shoes  on  the  mat  in  the  passage,  and  once 
again,  to  leave  the  premises,  on  coming  down,  carefully  wiping 
their  shoes  on  the  mat  in  the  attic.  An  agreement  was  made 
upon  this  peculiar  basis ;  and  the  carpenters  were  kept  sixteen 
hours  amongst  the  chimney-pots ;  their  food  being  drawn  up  by  a 
rope  from  the  street.  The  British  householder  (number  seven 
hundred  and  six)  was  almost  rash  in  his  obliging  disposition,  and 
he  gave  the  company  full  permission  to  take  his  roof  off  if  they 
found  it  in  the  way.  The  British  householder  (number  seven  hun- 
dred and  four)  might  have  been  induced  to  give  his  assistance,  had 
not  his  wife  loudly  warned  him,  from  the  depths  of  the  shop  par- 
lor, to  beware.  The  consent  of  British  householder  (number 
eight  hundred  and  ten)  was  secured  by  the  display  of  the  pocket- 
models  ;  but  when  the  workmen  arrived  with  a  pole  as  long  as 
a  clothes-prop,  he  stopped  them,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  at- 
tempting an  imposition.  He  had  not  allowed  for  the  portable 


HOUSE-TOP  TELEGRAPHS.  359 

character  of  the  models ;  and  the  pole  he  expected  to  see  fixed 
on  the  house-top  was  about  the  size  of  a  toothpick. 

Nearly  four  thousand  calls  were  made  upon  this  errand,  to  get 
the  consent  of  some  nineteen  hundred  people ;  and  this  only  for 
the  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  metropolitan  wire  already  raised. 
The  hundred  and  twenty  miles  remaining  to  be  surveyed  will  in- 
volve, perhaps,  nearly  three  thousand  more  visits  before  the  requi- 
site fourteen  hundred  consents  are  obtained.  The  landlords  of  all 
house-property  are  to  be  consulted,  as  well  as  the  tenants,  which 
doubles  the  labor  of  the  company's  agents.  When  the  wire  is 
finally  fixed  over  the  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  there  will 
have  been  about  seven  thousand  interviews  and  negotiations,  and 
nearly  three  thousand  five  hundred  contracts. 

Such  is  the  labor  required  to  spin  the  thin  web  that  is  now 
shooting  across  crowded  thoroughfares,  or  creeping  under-  the 
heavy  paving-stones,  and  joining  the  hands  of  chapels,  taverns, 
palaces,  police-stations,  warehouses,  hovels,  and  shops.  Other  la- 
bor will  be  required  to  bring  down  the  mysterious  strings,  so  that 
every  one  may  be  able  to  move  the  living  puppets,  from  station  to 
station,  from  Highgate  to  Peckham,  from  Hammersmith  to  Bow. 

Some  of  these  strings  (perhaps  to  the  number  of  ten)  will  drop 
into  district  stations,  —  offices  that  will  act  as  centres  of  particular 
divisions  ;  others  (perhaps  to  the  number  of  a  hundred)  will  drop 
into  familiar  shops  and  trading-places ;  amongst  the  pickle-jars  of 
the  oilman,  the  tarts  of  the  pastry-cook,  the  sugar-casks  of  the 
grocer,  the  beer-barrels  of  the  publican,  the  physic-bottles  of  the 
dispensing  chemist.  The  post-office,  industrious  and  effective  as 
it  is,  will  find  an  active  rival  standing  by  its  side,  bidding  against 
it  for  popularity,  coming  in  to  share  its  message-carrying  trade. 
The  elements  of  nature  will  be  harnessed  for  hack-work ;  and  four 
pennyworth  of  lightning  will  be  as  common  as  a  box  of  pills.  The 
old  cab-horse  will  wonder  why  he  is  resting  so  long  on  his  stony 
stand ;  and  the  two  millions  and  more  of  busy  metropolitan  inhab- 
itants may  welcome  another  means  of  easing  their  crowded  streets. 
Everybody  will  find  a  way  of  talking  over  everybody  else's  head, 
or  under  everybody  else's  feet,  or  behind  everybody  else's  back. 
"No  door-mat  to-night,"  will  be  whispered  from  Brompton  to 


360  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

Hampstead,  and  no  one  will  be  aware  of  the  fact  but  the  two  com- 
municants. The  Elephant  and  Castle  will  despatch  the  tenderest 
messages  to  the  Angel  at  Islington ;  and  as  soon  as  the  back  of 
young  Emma's  mamma  is  turned  at  Camberwell,  young  Edwin 
will  be  fully  informed  at  Chelsea.  St.  Johnswood  will  suddenly  be 
invited  to  a  roughly  got-up,  but  pleasant,  party  at  Holloway ;  and 
Kensington  will  be  told  that  a  private  box  for  the  Opera  is  wait- 
ing for  it  at  Bow  Street.  The  doctor  at  Finsbury  will  be  requested 
to  step  up,  at  once,  to  Park  Lane;  and  Bays  water  will  stop  the 
toilet  of  Clapham  by  announcing  a  sudden  postponement  of  a  din- 
ner-party. Greenwich  will  be  told  by  Kensington  to  prepare  a 
whitebait  banquet  in  three  hours;  and  Rotherhithe  will  be  in- 
formed by  Camden-town  that  the  child  is  a  boy,  and  that  the 
mother  is  doing  extraordinarily  well.  The  firemen  of  Cannon 
Street  will  be  called  to  a  red-hot  task  at  Blackheath  ;  and  when  a 
policeman  is  missing  —  as  usual  —  from  his  beat,  a  "reserve" 
can  be  summoned  from  the  station.  The  saddest  of  all  messages 
will  also  fly  across  the  tidings  of  hope ;  for  Death  will  sometimes 
present  himself  at  the  shop-counter  to  whisper  his  ghostly  dispen- 
sations along  the  wires. 

The  great  centre  of  all  this  system  is  in  Lothbury,  London, 
where  a  graceful  school  of  about  sixty  young  ladies  are  even 
now  learning  the  mysteries  of  the  old  railway-telegraph  signals. 
Whether  they  are  training  their  minds  and  hands  in  an  art  that 
will  be  wholly  set  aside,  yet  remains  to  be  seen ;  but  whatever 
machines  may  be  used  as  the  central  and  district  stations,  it  is 
certain  that  the  sub-district  or  shop  stations  will  require  some- 
thing exceedingly  simple  and  convenient. 

The  telegraphs  most  generally  in  use,  both  in  this  country  and 
on  the  Continent,  require  great  skill  and  practice  to  work ;  and, 
in  translating  their  arbitrary  signs  into  ordinary  language,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  have  specially  educated  persons  to  work  them. 
This  necessity  was,  for  the  first  time,  obviated  by  the  system  of 
telegraphs  invented  by  Professor  Wheatstone  in  1840,  in  which 
either  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  on  a  fixed  dial  were  pointed  to 
by  a  moving  hand,  or  a  moving  dial  presented  the  letters  suc- 
cessively behind  a  fixed  aperture.  In  these,  the  transmission  of 


HOUSE-TOP   TELEGKAPHS.  361 

the  message  consisted  simply  in  bringing  in  succession  the  letters 
composing  it  opposite  a  fixed  mark,  by  means  of  an  apparatus 
called  the  transmitter.  These  instruments  were  constructed  to 
work,  either  by  the  currents  generated  by  induction  from  a  per- 
manent magnet,  or  by  the  aid  of  a  voltaic  battery  ;  in  the  former 
case,  the  instruments  required  no  preparation  to  put  them,  or  at- 
tention to  keep  them,  in  action.  Since  then,  Professor  Wheat- 
stone  has  devoted  much  time  to  the  improvement  of  this  class  of 
telegraphs  ;  the  principal  object  of  which  has  been  to  effect  their 
movements  with  greater  steadiness,  certainty,  and  rapidity  than 
hitherto,  and  by  means  of  magnets  of  small  dimensions.  As  the 
instruments  are  at  present  constructed,  a  lady  or  a  child  may, 
after  a  few  minutes'  instruction,  send  or  receive  a  message  by 
them  ;  and,  with  practice,  as  many  signals  may  be  conveyed  per 
minute  as  by  any  telegraphs  in  present  use.  Especially  appli- 
cable to  house-top  telegraphs,  they  are  more  efficient  than  any 
others  for  interchanging  messages  on  railways,  in  public  offices, 
manufactories,  private  mansions,  docks,  mines,  &c.  Being  very 
portable,  and  requiring  no  preparation,  they  are  the  best  tele- 
graphs for  military  purposes  ;  and  being  constructed  so  as  not  to 
be  affected  by  any  extraneous  movement,  they  can  be  used  with 
perfect  safety  in  ships,  even  on  a  rough  sea,  or  on  railway  trains 
in  motion.  Professor  Wheatstone's  new  telegraphs  have  been 
some  time  in  daily  use  at  the  London  Docks,  and  between  the 
Houses  of  Parliament  and  the  Queen's  Printing-office,  two  miles 
distant.  In  form  these  telegraphs  are  as  portable  and  familiar  as 
a  quart  pot  or  a  loaf  of  bread.  A  circular  box,  of  the  shape  and 
size  of  a  small  ship's  compass,  is  placed  over  a  battery  of  magnets 
that  would  go  in  an  ordinary  hat-case.  The  surface  of  the  box 
presents  a  dial  face,  like  a  clock,  round  which  are  arranged  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  a  sign  or  two,  and  the  ten  numerals.  Op- 
posite each  of  the  letters — spreading  out  from  the  side  of  the  box, 
like  an  ornamental  fringe  round  the  dial-plate — is  a  single  tongue 
of  brass,  resembling  a  large  key  of  a  German  flute.  By  pressing 
down  one  of  these  tongues  with  your  finger  (opposite  the  letter 
A,  for  example)  you  cause  a  needle,  like  the  long  hand  of  a  watch, 
to  point  at  the  same  letter  on  another  dial,  exactly  similar  in  form, 
81 


362  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

but  smaller  in  size,  placed  under  the  eye  of  your  correspondent  at 
the  other  end  of  the  wire,  —  if  need  be,  miles  off.  The  distance  of 
your  needle-dial  from  your  battery  may  be  thirty  miles,  or  farther, 
according  to  the  power  of  your  magnets ;  but  the  action  of  the 
letter-key  upon  the  letter-needle  is  instantaneous  and  infallible. 
The  same  operation,  accompanied  by  the  same  result,  will  indi- 
cate numerals,  according  to  a  preconcerted  sign,  as  the  figures  are 
placed  round  the  two  dials,  as  far  as  they  will  go,  in  a  circle  out- 
side the  letters.  If  the  battery  is  portable,  the  corresponding 
machinery  is  much  more  so,  being  even  smaller  than  many  an 
ordinary  French  mantel-shelf  clock.  The  needle-dial  is  fixed  in 
a  small  barrel,  and  fitted  up  so  as  to  revolve  like  a  microscope, 
and  suit  the  height  of  the  person  observing  it.  A  voltaic  battery 
would  be  less  costly  than  magnets,  but  more  liable  to  get  out  of 
order  in  shop-stations.  The  whole  apparatus,  as  it  stands,  would 
not  take  up  half  the  space  required  by  a  post-office  desk,  or  re- 
quire any  more  intellect  to  work  it  than  is  required  to  write  or 
read  a  letter.  An  average  housemaid  could  receive  and  despatch 
a  message,  if  the  shopman  had  just  stepped  round  the  corner, 
providing  she  could  spell  a  few  words  of  one,  two,  or  three 
syllables. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  some  such  apparatus  as  this  —  most 
probably  upon  this  particular  machine  —  will  depend  the  success 
of  the  London  District  Telegraph  Company.  The  whole  scheme 
of  popular  telegraphs  runs  in  a  circle.  Without  simplicity  and 
clearness  of  machinery  there  can  be  no  extensive  formation  of 
cheap  stations  ;  without  a  number  of  cheap  stations  there  can  be 
no  moderate  tariff  of  charges ;  without  this  moderate  tariff  there 
can  be  no  general  patronage  of  telegraphs  by  the  great  body  of 
the  public.  Without  general  patronage,  again,  there  can  be  no 
moderate  tariff. 

Starting,  as  the  company  does,  in  some  degree,  upon  a  senti- 
ment, by  soliciting  the  unpaid  co-operation  of  numerous  house- 
holders and  landlords,  it  will  be  morally  bound  to  place  itself  in 
that  position  in  which  it  can  effect  the  greatest  amount  of  public 
good  at  the  lowest  possible  tariff  of  charges.  The  trading  in- 
stincts of  its  board  of  directors  will  compel  them  to  do  this,  if 


THE  DOT  AND  LINE  ALPHABET.  363 

they  are  not  kept  in  the  right  path  by  any  higher  feeling.  It 
will  be  fortunate,  therefore,  for  the  metropolitan  public,  that, 
though  the  electric  shock  may  not  always  be  required  with  the 
glass  of  ale,  both  may  be  included  in  the  fourpence,  when  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

THE  DOT  AND  LINE  ALPHABET.* 

Just  in  the  triumph  week  of  that  Great  Telegraph  which  takes 
its  name  from  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  I  read  in  the  September 
number  of  that  journal  the  revelations  of  an  observer  who  was 
surprised  to  find  that  he  had  the  power  of  reading,  as  they  run, 
the  revelations  of  the  wire.  I  had  the  hope  that  he  was  about  to 
explain  to  the  public  the  more  general  use  of  this  instrument,  — 
which  with  a  stupid  fatuity  the  public  has,  as  yet,  failed  to  grasp. 
Because  its  signals  have  been  first  applied  by  means  of  electro- 
magnetism,  and  afterwards  by  means  of  the  chemical  power  of 
electricity,  the  many-headed  people  refuses  to  avail  itself,  as  it 
might  do  very  easily,  of  the  same  signals  for  the  simpler  trans- 
mission of  intelligence,  whatever  the  power  employed. 

The  great  invention  of  Mr.  Morse  is  his  register  and  alphabet 
He  himself  eagerly  disclaims  any  pretension  to  the  original  con- 
ception of  the  use  of  electricity  as  an  errand-boy.  Hundreds  of 
people  had  thought  of  that,  and  suggested  it ;  but  Morse  was  the 
first  to  give  the  errand-boy  such  a  written  message  that  he  could 
not  lose  it  on  the  way,  nor  mistake  it  when  he  arrived.  The 
public,  eager  to  thank  Morse  as  he  deserves,  thanks  him  for 
something  he  did  not  invent.  'For  this  he  probably  cares  very 
little.  Nor  do  I  care  more.  But  the  public  does  not  thank  him 
for  what  he  did  originate,  —  this  invaluable  and  simple  alphabet. 
Now,  as  I  use  it  myself  in  every  detail  of  life,  and  see  every  hour 
how  the  public  might  use  it,  if  it  chose,  I  am  really  sorry  for  this 
negligence,  —  both  on  the  score  of  his  fame,  and  of  general  con- 
venience. 

Please  to  understand,  then,  ignorant  Reader,  that  this  curious 
alphabet  reduces  all  the  complex  machinery  of  Cadmus  and  the 

*  Written  by  Rev.  Edward  E.  Hale  for  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  October,  1858. 


364  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

rest  of  the  writing-masters  to  characters  as  simple  as  can  be  made 
by  a  dot,  a  space,  and  a  line,  variously  combined.  Thus,  the 

marks designate  the  letter  A.  The  marks designate 

the  letter  B.  All  the  other  letters  are  designated  in  as  simple  a 
manner. 

Now  I  am  stripping  myself  of  one  of  the  private  comforts  of 
my  life,  (but  what  will  one  not  do  for  mankind  ?)  when  I  explain 
that  this  simple  alphabet  need  not  be  confined  to  electrical  sig- 
nals. Long  and  short  make  it  all,  —  and  wherever  long  and 
short  can  be  combined,  be  it  in  marks,  sounds,  sneezes,  fainting- 
fits, canes,  or  children,  ideas  can  be  conveyed  by  this  arrange- 
ment of  the  long  and  short  together.  Only  last  night  I  was 
talking  scandal  with  Mrs.  Wilberforce  at  a  summer  party  at  the 
Hammersmiths.  To  my  amazement,  my  wife,  who  scarcely  can 
play  "  The  Fisher's  Hornpipe/'  interrupted  us  by  asking  Mrs. 
Wilberforce  if  she  could  give  her  the  idea  of  an  air  in  "  The 
Butcher  of  Turin."  Mrs.  Wilberforce  had  never  heard  that 
opera,  —  indeed,  had  never  heard  of  it.  My  angel-wife  was  sur- 
prised, —  stood  thrumming  at  the  piano,  —  wondered  she  could 
not  catch  this  very  odd  bit  of  discordant  accord  at  all,  —  but 
checked  herself  in  her  effort,  as  soon  as  I  observed  that  her  long 
notes  and  short  notes,  in  their  turn-tee,  tee,  —  tee-tee,  tee-turn 
turn,  meant,  "  He 's  her  brother."  The  conversation  on  her  side 
turned  from  "  The  Butcher  of  Turin,"  and  I  had  just  time,  on 
the  hint  thus  given  me  by  Mrs.  I.,  to  pass  a  grateful  eulogium 
on  the  distinguished  statesman  whom  Mrs.  Wilberforce,  with  all 
a  sister's  care,  had  rocked  in  his  baby-cradle,  —  whom,  but  for 
my  wife's  long  and  short  notes,  I  should  have  clumsily  abused 
among  the  other  statesmen  of  the  day. 

You  will  see  in  an  instant,  awakening  Reader,  that  it  is  not 
the  business  simply  of  "  operators  "  in  telegraphic  dens  to  know 
this  Morse  alphabet,  but  your  business,  and  that  of  every  man 
and  woman.  If  our  school-committees  understood  the  times,  it 
would  be  taught,  even  before  phonography  or  physiology,  at 
school.  I  believe  both  these  sciences  now  precede  the  old  Eng- 
lish alphabet. 

As  I  write  these  words,  the  bell  of  the  South  Congregational 


THE  DOT  AND  LINE  ALPHABET.  365 

strikes    dong,    dong,    dong, dong,   dong,   dong, dong, 

dong,  dong.  Nobody  has  unlocked  the  church-door.  The  old 
tin  sign,  "  In  case  of  fire,  the  key  will  be  found  at  the  opposite 
house,"  has  long  since  been  taken  down,  and  made  into  the  nose 
of  a  waterpot.  Yet  there  is  no  Goody  Two-Shoes  locked  in. 
No!  But,  thanks  to  Dr.  Channing's  Fire-Alarm,  the  bell  is 
informing  the  South  End  that  there  is  a  fire  in  District  Dong- 
dong-dong,  —  that  is  to  say,  District  No.  3.  Before  I  have  ex- 
plained to  you  so  far,  the  "  Eagle  "  engine,  with  a  good  deal  of 
noise,  has  passed  the  house  on  its  way  to  that  fated  district.  An 
immense  improvement  this  on  the  old  system,  when  the  engines 
radiated  from  their  houses  in  every  possible  direction,  and  the 
fire  was  extinguished  by  the  few  machines  whose  lines  of  quest 
happened  to  cross  each  other  at  the  particular  place  where  the 
child  had  been  building  cob-houses  out  of  lucifer-matches  in  a 
paper-warehouse.  Yes,  it  is  a  very  great  improvement.  All 
those  persons,  like  you  and  me,  who  have  no  property  in  Dis- 
trict Dong-dong-dong,  can  now  sit  at  home  at  ease,  —  and  little 
need  we  think  upon  the  mud  above  the  knees  of  those  who  have 
property  in  that  district  and  are  running  to  look  after  it.  But  for 
them  the  improvement  only  brings  misery.  You  arrive  wet,  hot 
or  cold,  or  both,  at  the  large  District  No.  3,  to  find  that  the 
lucifer-matches  were  half  a  mile  from  your  store,  —  and  that  your 
own  private  watchman,  even,  had  not  been  waked  by  the  work- 
ing of  the  distant  engines.  Wet  property-holder,  as  you  walk 
home,  consider  this.  When  you  are  next  in  the  Common 
Council,  vote  an  appropriation  for  applying  Morse's  alphabet  of 
long  and  short  to  the  bells.  Then  they  can  be  made  to  sound 
intelligibly.  Daung  ding  ding,  —  ding,  —  ding  daung, —  daung 
daung  daung,  and  so  on,  will  tell  you,  as  you  wake  in  the  night, 
that  it  is  Mr.  B.'s  store  which  is  on  fire,  and  not  yours,  or  that  it 
is  yours,  and  not  his.  This  is  not  only  a  convenience  to  you  and 
a  relief  to  your  wife  and  family,  who  will  thus  be  spared  your 
excursions  to  unavailable  and  unsatisfactory  fires,  and  your  some- 
what irritated  return,  —  it  will  be  a  great  relief  to  the  Fire  De- 
partment. How  placid  the  operations  of  a  fire  where  none 
attend  except  on  business !  The  various  engines  arrive,  but 
31* 


366  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

no  throng  of  distant  citizens,  men  and  boys,  fearful  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  all.  They  have  all  roused  on  their  pillows  to  learn 
that  it  is  No.  530  Pearl  Street  which  is  in  flames.  All  but  the 
owner  of  No.  530  Pearl  Street  have  dropped  back  to  sleep.  He 
alone  has  rapidly  repaired  to  the  scene.  That  is  he,  who  stands 
in  the  uncrowded  street  with  the  Chief  Engineer,  on  the  deck  of 
No.  18,  as  she  plays  away.  His  property  destroyed,  the  engines 
retire,  —  he  mentions  the  amount  of  his  insurance  to  those  per- 
sons who  represent  the  daily  press,  they  all  retire  to  their  homes, 
—  and  the  whole  is  finished  as  simply,  almost,  as  was  his  private 
entry  in  his  day-book  the  afternoon  before. 

This  is  what  might  be,  if  the  magnetic  alarm  only  struck  long 
and  short,  and  we  had  all  learned  Morse's  alphabet.  Indeed, 
there  is  nothing  the  bells  could  not  tell,  if  you  would  only  give 
them  time  enough.  We  have  only  one  chime,  for  musical  pur- 
poses, in  the  town.  But,  without  attempting  tunes,  only  give  the 
bells  the  Morse  alphabet,  and  every  bell  in  Boston  might  chant  in 
monotone  the  words  of  "  Hail  Columbia"  at  length,  every  Fourth 
of  July.  Indeed,  if  Mr.  Barnard  should  report  any  day  that  a 
discouraged  'prentice-boy  had  left  town  for  his  country  home,  all 
the  bells  could  instantly  be  set  to  work  to  speak  articulately,  in 
language  regarding  which  the  dullest  imagination  need  not  be  at 

loss, 

"  Turn  again,  Higginbottom, 
Lord  Mayor  of  Boston ! " 

I  have  suggested  the  propriety  of  introducing  this  alphabet 
into  the  primary  schools.  I  need  not  say  I  have  taught  it  to  my 
own  children,  —  and  I  have  been  gratified  to  see  how  rapidly  it 
made  head  against  the  more  complex  alphabet  in  the  grammar 
schools.  Of  course  it  does;  an  alphabet  of  two  characters 
matched  against  one  of  twenty-six,  —  or  of  forty-odd,  as  the  very 
odd  one  of  the  phonotypists  employs !  On  the  Franklin-medal- 
day  I  went  to  the  Johnson  School  examination.  One  of  the  com- 
mittee asked  a  nice  girl,  what  was  the  capital  of  Brazil.  The 
child  looked  tired  and  pale,  and,  for  an  instant,  hesitated.  But, 
before  she  had  time  to  commit  herself,  all  answering  was  ren- 
dered impossible  by  an  awful  turn  of  whooping-cough  which  one 


THE  DOT  AND  LINE  ALPHABET.     •  367 

of  my  own  sons  was  seized  with,  —  who  had  gone  to  the  exami- 
nation with  me.  Hawm,  hem  hem;  —  hem  hem  hem;  —  hem, 
hem ;  —  hawm,  hem  hem  ;  —  hem  hem  hem ;  —  hem,  hem,  — 
barked  the  poor  child,  who  was  at  the  opposite  extreme  of  the 
school-room.  The  spectators  and  the  committee  looked  to  see 
him  fall  dead  with  a  broken  blood-vessel.  I  confess  that  I  felt 
no  alarm,  after  I  observed  that  some  of  his  gasps  were  long  and 
some  very  staccato ;  nor  did  pretty  little  Mabel  Warren.  She 
recovered  her  color,  —  and,  as  soon  as  silence  was  in  the  least 
restored,  answered,  "  Rio  is  the  capital  of  Brazil,"  —  as  modestly 
and  properly  as  if  she  had  been  taught  it  in  her  cradle.  They 
are  nothing  but  children,  any  of  them,  —  but  that  afternoon,  after 
they  had  done  all  the  singing  the  city  needed  for  its  annual  enter- 
tainment of  the  singers,  I  saw  Bob  and  Mabel  start  for  a  long 
expedition  into  West  Roxbury,  —  and  when  he  came  back,  I 
know  it  was  a  long  featherfew,  from  her  prize  school-bouquet, 
that  he  pressed  in  his  Greene's  "  Analysis,"  with  a  short  frond  of 
maiden's  hair. 

I  hope  nobody  will  write  a  letter  to  "  The  Atlantic,"  to  say 
that  these  are  very  trifling  uses.  The  communication  of  useful 
information  is  never  trifling.  It  is  as  important  to  save  a  nice 
child  from  mortification  on  examination-day,  as  it  is  to  tell  Mr. 
Fremont  that  he  is  not  elected  President.  If,  however,  the 
reader  is  distressed  because  these  illustrations  do  not  seem  to  his 
more  benighted  observation  to  belong  to  the  big  bow-wow  strain 
of  human  life,  let  him  consider  the  arrangement  which  ought  to 
have  been  made  years  since,  for  lee  shores,  railroad  collisions, 
and  that  curious  class  of  maritime  accidents  where  one  steamer 
runs  into  another  under  the  impression  that  she  is  a  lighthouse. 
Imagine  the  Morse  alphabet  applied  to  a  steam-whistle,  which  is 
often  heard  five  miles.  It  needs  only  long  and  short  again. 
"Stop  Comet"  for  instance,  when  you  send  it  down  the  railroad 
line,  by  the  wire,  is  expressed  thus :  — 


Very  good  message,  if  Comet  happens  to  be  at  the  telegraph  sta- 
tion when  it  comes !     But  what  if  Comet  has  gone  by  ?     Much 


368  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

good  will  your  trumpery  message  do  then!  If,  however,  you 
have  the  wit  to  sound  your  long  and  short  on  an  engine-whistle, 
thus  :  —  Sere  sere,  sere ;  screeeee ;  sere  sere ;  sere  sere  sere  sere ; 
sere  sere  —  sere,  sere  sere,  sereeeee  ^creeeee ;  sere ;  screeeee ;  — 
why,  then  the  whole  neighborhood,  for  five  miles  round,  will 
know  that  Comet  must  stop,  if  only  they  understand  spoken  lan- 
guage, —  and,  among  others,  the  engineman  of  Comet  will  under- 
stand it ;  and  Comet  will  not  run  into  that  wreck  of  worlds  which 
gives  the  order,  —  with  his  nucleus  of  hot  iron  and  his  tail  of  five 
hundred  tons  of  coal.  So,  of  the  signals  which  fog-bells  can 
give,  attached  to  lighthouses.  How  excellent  to  have  them  pro- 
claim through  the  darkness,  "  I  am  Wall ! "  Or  of  signals  for 
steamship-engineers.  When  our  friends  were  on  board  the 
"Arabia"  the  other  day,  and  she  and  the  " Europa"  pitched  into 
each  other,  —  as  if,  on  that  happy  week,  all  the  continents  were 
to  kiss  and  join  hands  all  round,  —  how  great  the  relief  to  the 
passengers  on  each,  if,  through  every  night  of  their  passage,  col- 
lision had  been  prevented  by  this  simple  expedient !  One  boat 
would  have  screamed,  "  Europa,  Europa,  Europa,"  from  night  to 
morning,  —  and  the  other,  "  Arabia,  Arabia,  Arabia,"  —  and  nei- 
ther would  have  been  mistaken,  as  one  unfortunately  was,  for  a 
lighthouse.  Any  passenger  who  has  ever  had  a  stateroom  next 
the  whistle  will  testify  to  the  sense  of  secure  comfort  this  nightly 
chorus  would  give  him. 

The  long  and  short  of  it  is,  that  whoever  can  mark  distinctions 
of  time  can  use  this  alphabet  of  long-and-short,  however  he  may 
mark  them.  It  is,  therefore,  within  the  compass  of  all  intelligent 
beingSj  except  those  who  are  no  longer  conscious  of  the  passage 
of  time,  having  exchanged  its  limitations  for  the  wider  sweep  of 
eternity.  The  illimitable  range  of  this  alphabet,  however,  is  not 
half  disclosed  when  this  has  been  said.  Most  articulate  language 
addresses  itself  to  one  sense,  or  at  most  to  two,  sight  and  souncj. 
I  see,  as  I  write,  that  the  particular  illustrations  I  have  given  are 
all  of  them  confined  to  signals  seen  or  signals  heard.  But  the 
dot-and-line  alphabet,  in  the  few  years  of  its  history,  has  already 
shown  that  it  is  not  restricted  to  these  two  senses,  but  makes 
itself  intelligible  to  all.  Its  message,  of  course,  is  heard  as  well 


THE  DOT  AND  LINE  ALPHABET.  369 

as  read.  Any  good  operator  understands  the  sounds  of  its  ticks 
upon  the  flowing  strip  of  paper,  as  well  as  when  he  sees  it  As 
he  lies  in  his  cot  at  midnight,  he  will  expound  the  passing  mes- 
sage without  striking  a  light  to  see  it.  But  this  is  only  what 
may  be  said  of  any  written  language.  You  can  read  this  article 
to  your  wife,  or  she  can  read  it,  as  she  prefers;  that  is,  she 
chooses  whether  it  shall  address  her  eye  or  her  ear.  But  the 
long-and-short  alphabet  of  Morse  and  his  imitators  despises  such 
narrow  range.  It  addresses  whichever  of  the  five  senses  the 
listener  chooses. 

This  fact  is  illustrated  by  a  curious  set  of  anecdotes  —  never 
yet  put  in  print,  I  think  —  of  that  critical  despatch  which  in  one 
night  announced  General  Taylor's  death  to  this  whole  land. 
Most  of  the  readers  of  these  lines  probably  read  that  despatch  in 
the  morning's  paper.  The  compositors  and  editors  had  read  it. 
To  all  of  them  it  was  a  despatch  to  the  eye.  But  half  the  oper- 
ators at  the  stations  heard  it  ticked  out,  by  the  register  stroke, 
and  knew  it  before  they  wrote  it  down  for  the  press.  To  them 
it  was  a  despatch  to  the  ear.  My  good  friend  Langenzunge  had 
not  that  resource.  He  had  just  been  promised,  by  the  General 
himself,  (under  whom  he  served  at  Palo  Alto,)  the  office  of  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Rocky-Mountain  Lines.  He  was  returning 
from  Washington  over  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  on 
a  freight-train,  when  he  heard  of  the  President's  danger.  Lan- 
genzunge loved  Old  Rough  and  Ready,  —  and  he  felt  badly  about 
his  own  office,  too.  But  his  extempore  train  chose  to  stop  at  a 
forsaken  shanty-village  on  the  Potomac,  for  four  mortal  hours,  at 
midnight.  What  does  he  do  but  walk  down  the  line  into  the 
darkness,  climb  a  telegraph-post,  cut  a  wire,  and  apply  the  two 
ends  to  his  tongue,  to  taste,  at  the  fatal  moment,  the  words,  "  Died 
at  half  past  ten."  Poor  Langenzunge !  he  hardly  had  nerve  to 
solder  the  wire  again.  Cogs  told  me  that  they  had  just  fitted  up 
the  Naguadavick  stations  with  Bain's  chemical  revolving  disc. 
This  disc  is  charged  with  a  salt  of  potash,  which,  when  the  electric 
spark  passes  through  it,  is  changed  to  Prussian-blue.  Your  de- 
spatch is  noiselessly  written  in  dark-blue  dots  and  lines.  Just  as 
the  disc  started  on  that  fatal  despatch,  and  Cogs  bent  over  it  to 

x 


370  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

read,  his  spirit-lamp  blew  up,  —  as  the  dear  things  will.  They 
were  beside  themselves  in  the  lonely,  dark  office ;  but,  while  the 
men  were  fumbling  for  matches,  which  would  not  go,  Cogs's 
sister,  Nydia,  a  sweet  blind  girl,  who  had  learned  Bain's  alpha- 
bet from  Dr.  Howe  at  South  Boston,  bent  over  the  chemical 
paper,  and  smelt  out  the  prussiate  of  potash,  as  it  formed  itself 
in  lines  and  dots  to  tell  the  sad  story.  Almost  anybody  used  to 
reading  the  blind  books  can  read  the  embossed  Morse  messages 
with  the  finger,  —  and  so  this  message  was  read  at  all  the  mid- 
night way-stations  where  no  night-work  is  expected,  and  where 
the  companies  do  not  supply  fluid  or  oil.  Within  my  narrow 
circle  of  acquaintance,  therefore,  there  were  these  simultaneous  in- 
stances, where  the  same  message  was  seen,  heard,  smelled,  tasted, 
and  felt.  So  universal  is  the  dot  and  line  alphabet,  —  for  Bain's 
is  on  the  same  principle  as  Morse's. 

The  reader  sees,  therefore,  first,  that  the  dot  and  line  alphabet 
can  be  employed  by  any  being  who  has  command  of  any  long  and 
short  symbols,  —  be  they  long  and  short  notches,  such  as  Robin- 
son Crusoe  kept  his  accounts  with,  or  long  and  short  waves  of 
electricity,  such  as  these  which  Valentia  is  sending  across  to  the 
Newfoundland  Bay,  so  prophetically  and  appropriately  named 
« The  Bay  of  Bulls."  Also,  I  hope  the  reader  sees  that  the 
alphabet  can  be  understood  by  any  intelligent  being  who  has  any 
one  of  the  five  senses  left  him,  —  by  all  rational  men,  that  is, 
excepting  the  few  eyeless  deaf  persons  who  have  lost  both  taste 
and  smell  in  some  complete  paralysis.  The  use  of  Morse's 
telegraph  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  small  clique  who 
possess  or  who  understand  electrical  batteries.  It  is  not  only  the 
torpedo  or  the  Gymnotus  electricus  that  can  send  us  messages 
from  the  ocean.  Whales  in  the  sea  can  telegraph  as  well  as  sen- 
ators on  land,  if  they  will  only  note  the  difference  between  long 
spoutings  and  short  ones.  And  they  can  listen,  too.  If  they  will 
only  note  the  difference  between  long  and  short,  the  eel  of  Ocean's 
bottom  may  feel  on  his  slippery  skin  the  smooth  messages  of  our 
Presidents,  and  the  cat-fish,  in  his  darkness,  look  fearless  on  the 
secrets  of  a  Queen.  Any  beast,  bird,  fish,  or  insect,  which  can 
discriminate  between  long  and  short,  may  use  the  telegraphic 


THE  TELEGRAPH.  371 

alphabet,  if  he  have  sense  enough.  Any  creature,  which  can 
hear,  smell,  taste,  feel,  or  see,  may  take  note  of  its  signals,  if  he 
can  understand  them.  A  tired  listener  at  church,  by  properly 
varying  his  long  yawns  and  his  short  ones,  may  express  his  opin- 
ion of  the  sermon  to  the  opposite  gallery  before  the  sermon  is 
done.  A  dumb  tobacconist  may  trade  with  his  customers  in  an 
alphabet  of  short-sixes  and  long-nines.  A  beleaguered  Sebasto- 
pol  may  explain  its  wants  to  the  relieving  army  beyond  the  line 
of  the  Chernaya,  by  the  lispings  of  its  short  Paixhans  and  its  long 
twenty-fours. 

THE    TELEGRAPH.* 

Thou  lonely  Bay  of  Trinity, 

Ye  bosky  shores  untrod, 
Lean,  breathless,  to  the  white-lipped  sea 

And  hear  the  voice  of  God ! 

From  world  to  world  His  couriers  fly, 

Thought-winged  and  shod  with  fire ; 
The  angel  of  His  stormy  sky 

Bides  down  the  sunken  wire. 

What  saith  the  herald  of  the  Lord? — 

"  The  world's  long  strife  is  done ! 
Close  wedded  by  that  mystic  cord, 

Her  continents  are  one. 

"  And  one  in  heart,  as  one  in  blood, 

Shall  all  her  peoples  be  ; 
The  hands  of  human  brotherhood 

Shall  clasp  beneath  the  sea. 

"  Through  Orient  seas,  o'er  Afric's  plain, 

And  Asian  mountains  borne, 
The  vigor  of  the  Northeni  brain 

Shall  nerve  the  world  outworn. 

"  From  clime  to  clime,  from  shore  to  shore, 

Shall  thrill  the  magic  thread ; 
The  new  Prometheus  steals  once  more 

The  fire  that  wakes  the  dead. 

*  From  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  October,  1858. 


372  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

"  Earth  gray  with  age  shall  hear  the  strain 

Which  o'er  her  childhood  rolled ; 
For  her  the  morning  stars  again 

Shall  sing  their  song  of  old. 

"For,  lo !  the  fall  of  Ocean's  wall, 
Space  mocked,  and  Time  outrun !  — 

And  round  the  world,  the  thought  of  all 
Is  as  the  thought  of  one ! " 

O,  reverently  and  thankfully 

The  mighty  wonder  own  ! 
The  deaf  can  hear,  the  blind  may  see, 

The  work  is  God's  alone. 

Throb  on,  strong  pulse  of  thunder !  beat 

From  answering  beach  to  beach ! 
Fuse  nations  in  thy  kindly  heat, 

And  melt  the  chains  of  each ! 

Wild  terror  of  the  sky  above, 

Glide  tamed  and  dumb  below ! 
Bear  gently,  Ocean's  carrier-dove, 

Thy  errands  to  and  fro  ! 

Weave  on,  swift  shuttle  of  the  Lord, 

Beneath  the  deep  so  far, 
The  bridal  robe  of  Earth's  accord, 

The  funeral  shroud  of  war ! 

The  poles  unite,  the  zones  agree, 

The  tongues  of  striving  cease  ; 
As  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee, 

The  Christ  is  whispering,  "  Peace ! 

NEW  YORK   AND  BOSTON   TELEGRAPH  LINES. 

The  following  copy  of  a  report  made  by  Mn  Francis  O.  J. 
Smith  to  the  stockholders  of  the  New  York  and  Boston  Mag- 
netic Telegraph  Association,  dated  New  York,  October  28, 1846, 
presents  an  interesting  resume  of  the  condition  of  the  lines  be- 
tween these  important  points  at  that  date. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  The  line  between  this  city  and  Boston,  since  I 
have  had  charge  of  it,  has  been  disabled  more  than  half  the  period, 
on  an  average,  from  causes  wholly  beyond  the  power  of  vigilance, 


NEW  YORK  AND   BOSTON  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  373 

conducted  upon  any  ordinary  means  and  expense,  to  avoid  ; 
namely,  the  insufficiency  of  the  wire  at  the  points  exposed  to 
the  violence  and  action  of  the  winds,  to  breaks  and  crossings. 

On  sections  between  Harlem  and  Bridgeport,  the  crossings  have 
been  most  frequent,  and  in  fact  constant.  This  has  arisen  from 
the  slackness  of  the  wires,  as  originally  put  up,  under  a  conviction 
expressed  by  the  President  to  the  workmen  in  charge  of  the  work 
of  putting  up,  and  derived  from  alterations  made  in  the  suspension 
of  the  wires  on  the  Southern  line,  that  this  mode  would  relieve 
the  wires  from  breaks.  To  a  considerable  extent  it  has  proved 
so,  as  fewer  breaks  have  been  experienced  on  that  section  than  on 
corresponding  distances  of  other  sections.  But,  while  breaks  have 
thus  been  avoided,  crossings  have  been  multiplied. 

"  Along  the  entire  line  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  a  por- 
tion of  Massachusetts,  the  wires  are  exposed  to  a  much  more  rak- 
ing sweep  of  the  winds  from  the  seaboard  than  on  other  stations. 
Hence,  during  every  storm,  many  more  breaks  have  occurred  there 
than  elsewhere.  During  the  late  great  storm,  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy  breaks  were  reported  in  the  distance  of  about  thirty 
miles,  between  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  while  on  one  hundred 
miles,  from  Boston  to  Springfield,  only  a  half-dozen  breaks  oc- 
curred. At  Washington  Bridge,  the  topmast  of  the  mast  was 
broken,  although  sustained  by  iron  guys ;  and  at  Bridgeport  the 
mast  was  entirely  broken  up  and  overthrown.  A  new  topmast 
is  being  refitted  at  the  former  place,  and  at  both  places  temporary 
connections  of  the  wires  have  been  arranged.  Twelve  hundred 
feet  of  the  wires,  at  Connecticut  River,  were  swept  off  with  the 
overthrown  bridge  of  the  Railroad  Company,  and  wires  sub- 
stituted temporarily  on  the  stone  piers  remaining.  Such  are 
the  outlines  of  the  late  damage  to  the  line.  But  since  these 
have  been  repaired,  many  breaks  have  occurred,  evidently  from 
the  tension  produced  in  the  wire  during  the  storm,  and  many 
more  may  be  anticipated.  And  it  is  most  manifest  that,  from 
the  exposed  condition  of  the  line  along  the  seaboard,  a  much 
more  numerous  and  expensive  inspection  force  will  be  needed 
beyond  the  original  supposition,  in  order  to  keep  the  line  in  any 
good  condition  for  work,  and  to  have  repairs  made  promptly, 
32 


374  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

and  especially  to  make  the  second  wire  available  against  cross- 
ings. In  fact,  I  am  persuaded  that,  with.the  present  size  of  wires, 
and  without  a  much  wider  separation  of  them,  no  confidence  can 
be  entertained  in  the  practicability  of  keeping  the  two  wires  apart 
for  independent  operations  for  any  considerable  distance,  or  any 
considerable  length  of  time.  And,  considering  the  two  causes  of 
interruption  of  the  line  that  will  and  must  be  perpetually  occur- 
ring with  the  present  wires,  viz.  breaks  and  crossings,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  report  it  as  a  matter  of  positive  interest  and  economy 
for  the  Company  to  authorize  a  sale  to  be  made  of  at  least  one 
line  of  the  present  (copper)  wire  on  the  best  terms  practicable, 
and  the  substitution  of  an  iron  wire  of  at  least  250  to  330  pounds 
to  the  mile,  either  galvanized  with  zinc,  or  prepared  with  some 
cheaper  if  less  enduring  preventive  of  oxidation,  and  without  any 
avoidable  delay. 

"  The  wire  of  one  line  may  be  sold  at  from  18  to  20  cents  per 
pound,  and  for  nearly  enough,  probably,  to  purchase  the  requisite 
iron  wire.  The  expense  requiring  immediate  outlay  would  be 
that  of  taking  down  and  transporting  to  market  the  copper  wire, 
and  the  transporting  and  putting  up  of  the  iron  wire.  A  part  of 
the  needful  force  for  putting  up,  as  well  as  taking  down,  we  have 
in  our  inspectors  already  employed  along  the  line.  If  means 
cannot  be  obtained  otherwise  to  meet  this  necessary  outlay,  pro- 
vided your  board  shall  sanction  it,  I  will  endeavor  to  accomplish 
it  with  my  own  private  means  and  credit,  and  add  it  to  the  exist- 
ing indebtedness  of  the  Company  to  me.  With  two  wires  of 
suitable  diameter  and  strength,  we  should  not  only  have  a  line  at 
all  times  far  more  reliable  in  respect  to  integrity,  but  also  one  not1 
more  than  half  as  expensive  of  inspection  as  the  present  lines.  And 
until  this  be  accomplished,  I  do  not  candidly  believe  the  line  can 
be  made  either  creditable  or  profitable  to  any  party.  With  this 
accomplished,  I  feel  confident  its  reputation  and  productiveness 
will  answer  every  reasonable  expectation  of  the  stockholders  and 
the  public. 

"  Experience  has  demonstrated,  that,  when  the  line  is  in  a  reli- 
able condition,  the  average  receipts  of  each  through  wire  would 
not  be  less  than  seventy  dollars  per  day,  with  business  enough 


NEW  YORK  AND  BOSTON  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  375 

for  two  through  wires,  while  a  way  wire  would  probably  pay  its 
own  expenses,  and  those  of  inspecting  the  entire  line. 

"  With  these  facts  before  you,  I  respectfully  request  your  action 
and  advice  in  the  premises,  as  you  may  deem  for  the  interest  of 
all  parties  concerned." 

The  following  summary  of  a  report  from  Mr.  Smith  to  the 
stockholders,  dated  New  York,  September  5,  1848,  shows  the 
condition  of  the  lines  two  years  later.  Many  of  the  grave  diffi- 
culties enumerated  by  Mr.  Smith  in  this  report  will  cause  a  smile 
at  the  present  time,  when  similar  ones  are  so  easily  surmounted. 

"  Recurring  to  the  financial  considerations  of  the  line,  the  oper- 
ations of  the  past  year  will  be  found,  on  analysis,  well  calculated 
to  encourage  steady  perseverance,  and  afford  the  assurance  of  an 
ultimate  recompense  for  the  capital  that  is  employed ;  and  this, 
notwithstanding  the  line  has  been  in  the  mean  time  subjected  to 
the  most  frequent  and  perplexing  interruptions,  and  consequently 
to  very  large  losses  of  revenue. 

"  The  principal  of  these  interruptions  and  losses  have  arisen 
from  the  constant  and  continuous  changes  which  have  been  prose- 
cuted by  the  Western  Railroad  Company,  in  the  removal  of  old 
and  construction  of  new  depots  and  storehouses,  and  for  laying  a 
second  track  along  the  entire  line  of  the  road,  from  Worcester  to 
Springfield,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles ;  and  also  on  a  section  of  the 
Harlem  Railroad  by  the  latter  company,  for  a  distance  of  about 
seven  miles,  with  reference  to  accommodating,  on  a  new  track, 
the  New  Haven  Railroad  Company,  whose  road  is  in  the  process 
of  construction. 

"  This  latter  enterprise  has,  moreover,  most  seriously  affected 
the  line,  by  a  removal  to  a  new  site  of  the  draw  of  the  Washing- 
ton Bridge  on  the  Housatonic  River,  thereby  rendering  an  ex- 
pensive mast,  erected  at  that  point  by  the  Association,  of  no  use 
for  the  purpose  of  its  erection,  and  subjecting  the  line,  in  addition 
thereto,  to  several  interruptions  daily  at  the  new  draw,  as  also  to 
large  additional  expenses  of  inspection,  as  well  as  heavy  losses. 
I  have  arranged  for  the  construction  of  a  tower  at  this  point,  to 
remedy  for  ever,  as  I  trust,  the  recurrence  of  a  like  disaster  there 
to  the  line.  The  cost  is  estimated  at  $  350. 


376  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

"  Along  the  distances  specified  on  the  Western  Railroad,  and  on 
the  Harlem  Road,  a  very  large  portion  of  the  original  posts  of 
the  line  have  been  displaced  and  reset  with  far  more  expense 
than  would  have  been  requisite  to  build  an  entirely  new  line  of 
like  length.  At  several  points  on  the  Worcester  Railroad,  also, 
removals  of  posts  have  been  required  by  the  various  improve- 
ments that  have  been  in  progress  there ;  and  I  have  been  for- 
mally requested  to  have  all  the  posts  of  this  forty  miles  of  line 
changed  to  either  one  or  the  other  side  of  the  road,  so  as  to  allow 
of  no  crossing  of  the  road  by  the  wires  of  the  line. 

"  From  these  combined  causes,  to  avoid  which  no  effort  could 
be  availing,  the  line,  during  the  past  year,  has  been  interrupted, 
on  an  average,  one  day  in  every  six,  causing  an  average  differ- 
ence in  the  financial  condition  of  the  line  of  full  $  100  for  each 
day  of  interruption,  or  an  aggregate  loss  exceeding  $  5,000 

"  During  the  past  winter,  one  section  of  the  line  between  Wor- 
cester and  Boston  suffered  most  seriously  and  expensively  from 
the  extraordinary  accumulation  of  frozen  snow  on  the  wires.  The 
snow,  in  this  instance,  depressed  them  between  the  posts  with  a 
weight  estimated  to  be  equal  to  five  hundred  pounds  on  each 
wire.  And  where  this  occurred  at  curves  of  the  road  and  of  the 
line,  the  wires  were  brought  within  striking  reach  of  the  engines 
and  cars,  and  the  result  of  the  conflict  was  a  dangerous  exposure 
of  the  latter  to  accident  and  injury,  and  a  total  prostration  of  the 
wires  of  the  line  for  long  distances  in  advance  and  in  the  rear  of 
the  point  of  contact  The  loss  of  revenue,  and  the  simultaneous 
progress  of  ordinary  expenses  with  the  cost  of  repairs  in  the 
midst  of  winter  snows  and  an  icy  atmosphere,  were,  in  this  single 
instance  of  interruption,  not  short  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  the 
Association 

"  This  seemingly  endless  catalogue  of  accidents  and  hinderances 
incident  to  the  conjunction  of  telegraph  lines  with  a  railroad,  and 
especially  in  this  climate,  with  each  under  a  distinctive  adminis- 
tration, and  of  which  an  impatient  public  takes  but  little  count  in 
their  strictures  on  telegraph  lines,  and  the  great  losses  consequent 
therefrom,  illustrated  to  the  Directors  of  this  line  the  great  error 
involved  in  the  preference  hitherto  given  to  railroads  over  public 


NEW  YORK  AND  BOSTON  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  377 

or  country  roads  for  the  site  of  telegraphs,  and  induced  their  ad- 
vice and  resolution  to  authorize  and  hasten  as  much  as  possible 
the  absolute  removal  of  their  line,  at  least  one  wire  of  it,  from 
the  Western  Railroad,  as  also  from  the  Harlem  Road.  This  was 
seen  to  involve  a  new  expenditure  of  a  large  amount,  and  of 
course  equal  to  the  construction  of  that  extent  of  new  line  ;  and 
causing,  moreover,  a  postponement  of  an  immediate  dividend  in 
money  to  the  stockholders,  which  otherwise  might  be  made. 

"  But  looking  more  to  the  permanent  and  prospective  interests 
of  the  Association,  and  aiming  at  no  speculative  ends  in  the  im- 
parting of  a  fictitious  value  to  the  stock  of  the  line,  by  paying 
out  its  revenues  in  dividends,  rather  than  in  an  essential  and 
most  important  improvement,  which  the  welfare  and  continuous 
success  of  the  line  demanded,  the  work  was  decided  on,  and  has 
now  been  nearly  accomplished,  and  this  with  No.  9  iron  wire, 
and  such  improvements  in  the  size  of  the  posts  (there  being  none 
less  than  six  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top  end),  and  in  their  in- 
creased number  (thirty-five  to  the  mile),  and  in  the  form,  strength, 
and  durability  of  the  insulators,  and  in  the  avoidance  of  curves 
and  angles  in  the  direction  given  to  the  wires,  whenever  practica- 
ble, as  to  secure  a  telegraph  structure  that  is  unequalled  in  these 
particulars  by  any  other  yet  constructed  in  the  United  States 

"  The  aggregate  of  receipts  of  the  line  from  the  first  of  Au- 
gust, 1847,  to  the  first  of  August,  1848,  is  $34,835.14;  the  ag- 
gregate of  expenditures,  $36,034.14.  Of  this  expenditure, 

There  has  been  appropriated  in  extinguishment  of 

debts  due  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  year,   .  $  7,216.54 

Salaries  of  officers,  operators,  inspectors,  messengers,  14,917.78 

Rents,     .         .         .     :'V'      .     ft         .         .         .  981.25 

Office  fixtures,     .     .-.V- "'-: -i- j '>•••  '•"-,<       :.        .  609.46 

Battery,          .     ,  r.-..    .'  ...  - ,  ^,,..,,y, ..'l,^,     .         .  967.92 

Tools  and  registers,      . ... 283.67 

Collections  for,  and  payments  to,  other  lines,     .         .  3,090.78 
Lights,  fuel,  porterage,  printing,  stationery,  freight,  &c.,  2,596.06 
Repairs,  and   towards   new  line    (the  former    item 
amounts  to  about.  $  1,000,  leaving  $  4,371.69  to- 
wards the  latter),       .  .  -,_ 5,371.69 

Total,       .        ,,      i-       ....      $  36,035.15 
32* 


378  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

"  The  sums  of  indebtedness,  existing  at  the  commencement  of 
the  year  just  terminated,  and  since  paid  out  of  its  revenues, 
amount  to  $7,216.54.  This  sum  added  to  the  sum  of  $4,371.69, 
expended  towards  the  construction  of  the  new  section  of  line, 
make  an  aggregate  of  $  11,588.23,  equal  to  the  apportionment  of 
a  dividend  of  nine  per  cent  on  the  whole  capital  of  the  Associa- 
tion paid  in,  and  exclusive  of  keeping  the  line  in  repair  and 
paying  its  ordinary  expenses.  If  the  losses  by  interruptions 
were  superadded,  the  net  earnings  of  the  line  would  have  been 
equal  to  a  dividend  of  fifteen  per  cent  to  the  stockholders 

"  The  legislative  act  of  Connecticut,  passed  May,  1848,  is  not 
in  its  history  altogether  creditable  to  either  the  sense  of  justice 
or  sagacity  of  the  legislators  of  that  State.  At  the  same  time, 
in  its  provisions  there  is  nothing  seriously  objectionable,  if  our 
Association  be  desirous  of  invoking  the  protection  of  statute  law, 
additional  to  that  which  the  laws  of  Congress  and  the  common 
law  everywhere  throw  around  our  patented  privileges  and  the 
capital  employed  under  them. 

"  Connecticut  had,  at  a  previous  session,  passed  a  penal  law 
for  the  protection  of  our  line  against  wilful  injury,  and  granted 
also  a  charter  of  incorporation  for  our  Association.  Both  of 
these  acts  are  now  repealed  by  this  late  act,  and  without  any  pre- 
vious notice  to  parties  known  to  be  specially  interested  therein. 

"  The  charter,  however,  was  never  accepted,  and  we  never  had 
occasion  to  put  the  penal  law  into  requisition.  For  the  same 
moral  sense  of  mankind  that  recoils  at  the  thought  of  villany 
which  would  poison  the  sources  of  our  public  fountains,  or  pur- 
posely impregnate  an  atmosphere  which  all  must  inhale  with  the 
invisible  agents  of  fatal  diseases,  seems  everywhere  in  our  land 
to  have  characterized  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  all  classes 
towards  the  telegraph,  and  to  come  up  to  its  protection  and  pres- 
ervation, regardless  of  what  the  law  either  requires,  or  legislators 
may  designedly  omit  to  forbid  and  punish. 

"  In  view  of  this  pleasing  and  praiseworthy  consideration, 
founded  in  the  deep  and  honorable  regards  of  the  people  of  Con- 
necticut, no  less  than  of  those  of  other  States  of  our  happy  con- 
federacy, for  all  agents  honorably  engaged  in  the  diffusion  of 


NEW  YORK  AND  BOSTON  TELEGRAPH  LINES.  379 

public  and  private  intelligence,  I  may  remark,  that,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  motive  of  the  summary  proceedings  in  ques- 
tion of  the  late  Connecticut  Legislature,  its  force  will  probably  be 
spent  without  harm  to  the  interests  of  this  Association,  though 
none  of  the  proffered  boons  of  that  law  be  accepted  by  us 

"  The  grant  of  a  charter  by  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  is 
still  open  to  the  acceptance  of  this  Association.  There  would 
be  some  advantages  incident  to  its  adoption,  while  it  might  ex- 
pose the  administration  of  the  telegraph  to  unwelcome  interfer- 
ence in  new  legislation,  if  once  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
State  Legislature.  It  is  not  doubted  that  a  Legislature  so  distin- 
guished for  its  guardianship  of  worthy  enterprise  as  that  of  Mas- 
sachusetts has  hitherto  been,  would  in  the  end  accord  ample 
justice  to  the  wants  of  the  telegraph ;  but  the  interests,  and 
affairs,  and  conducting  of  the  business  of  the  telegraph  are  so 
unique,  and  to  many  minds  so  mystical,  as  to  expose  them  to 
most  hasty  and  unmerited  censures,  and  groundless  prejudice, 
which  nothing  but  time  and  that  patient  investigation  which  is 
seldom  accorded  by  fault-finders  can  rebut.  I  am  inclined,  how- 
ever, to  the  opinion,  that  our  interests  will  always  be  safe  under 
the  protective  policy  of  Massachusetts  legislation  and  jurispru- 
dence  

"  No  person  who  has  not  been  in  the  immediate  charge  of  a 
telegraph  can  at  all  appreciate  the  multiplicity  and  endless  suc- 
cession of  cares  and  perplexities  incident  to  such  a  position ;  and 
the  indisposition  of  the  public  and  of  the  newspaper  press  to  tol- 
erate any  failure,  however  unavoidable,  in  the  working  of  the 
telegraph,  renders  the  business  exceedingly  irksome,  thankless, 
and  disagreeable 

"  A  claim  has  arisen  against  the  Association,  out  of  ordinary 
occurrence.  At  Bridgeport,  where  a  man's  house  was  injured 
by  lightning,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  line  of  telegraph, 
he  conceived  the  calamity  attributable  to  its  influence.  On  care- 
ful investigation,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Pettingall,  the  resident 
Director  at  Bridgeport,  it  satisfactorily  appeared  that  the  agency 
of  the  line  was  exactly  opposite  to  that  supposed  by  the  injured 
party ;  namely,  to  the  extent  of  the  capacity  of  the  wires  as  an 


380  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

electric  conductor,  it  had  alleviated  and  carried  off  the  atmos- 
pheric charge  from  the  point  of  its  explosion  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
injured  house.  This  being  understood,  I  have  not  heard  of  any 
renewal  of  the  claim." 

From  1845  to  the  autumn  of  1849,  the  above  line  was  the 
only  one  extending  between  Boston  and  New  York,  and  conse- 
quently it  had  the  monopoly  of  the  business ;  but  in  the  latter 
year  two  competing  lines,  the  House  and  the  Bain,  were  con- 
structed between  these  points,  and  the  business  was  divided 
between  the  three,  until  July,  1852,  when  the  Bain  and  the 
Morse  (or  magnetic)  lines  were  united,  under  the  title  of  "  The 
New  York  and  New  England  Union  Telegraph  Company." 

The  following  statement  exhibits  the  receipts  of  the  Union 
Company's  lines  from  July,  1852,  to  July,  1859,  inclusive. 

Receipts  for  the  year  ending  July,  1853,  .         .    $  82,214.16 

«          «          «          «  «  1854,  .        .           79,683.73 

«    «    «    "  «  1855,  .    .  101,307.98 

«    «    "    "  "  1856,  .    .    102,151.78 

'•    «    «    «  «  1857,  .    .  103,134.06 

«    «    «    "  "  1858,  .    .    98,097.73 

«    «  «  1859,  .    .   96,136.06 

Total  for  seven  years,  .      $  662,725.50 

During  the  past  seven  years  there  has  existed  a  competing 
line,  using  the  House  and  Hughes  printing  instruments,  between 
the  points  reached  by  the  above,  which  has  transmitted  the  entire 
press  reports  and  a  large  amount  of  private  despatches,  probably 
as  great  as  that  transmitted  by  the  Union  Company. 

The  receipts  of  the  printing  lines  could  not  have  fallen  short, 
and  probably  considerably  exceeded,  those  of  the  above  Com- 
pany; but  placing  them  at  the  same  amounts,  we  have  as  the 
total  receipts  for  despatches  transmitted  over  all  the  lines  be- 
tween Boston  and  New  York,  for  the  past  seven  years, 
$  1,325,451  ! 

The  increase  in  the  receipts  for  the  year  1853  over  1848,  an 
interval  of  five  years,  would,  according  to  the  above  figures,  be 
about  Jive  hundred  per  cent. 


MAGNETOMETER.  381 

Total  receipts  of  the  House  and  Union  lines  for  1853,  $  164,428.32 

Total  receipts  of  the  Magnetic  line,  1848,   '.        .         34,835.14 

Increase  in  1853,         'v       .         .         »        $129,593.18 

Mr.  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  who  has  always  held  a  controlling  interest 
in  the  Union  Company,  and  possessed  valuable  rights  in  the 
Morse  patent,  has  recently  sold  out  his  entire  interest  to  the 
American  Telegraph  Company,  for  $300,000. 

RESISTANCES  OF  MORSE,  PHELPS,  AND   HOUSE  COILS. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  E.  B.  Elliott  for  the  following  state- 
ment of  some  interesting  experiments  conducted  by  Mr.  Moses 
G.  Farmer  and  himself. 

From  carefully  conducted  experiments  it  appeared  that  the 
resistance  of  the  coils  of  "  Phelps's  call "  is  equal  to  1 6.3  miles 
of  No.  9  iron  wire.  The  resistance  of  the  coil  of  the  House 
printing  instrument  was  from  72  to  90  miles.  That  of  the  Morse 
"  relay,"  as  ordinarily  made  by  Messrs.  Palmer  and  Hall,  varied 
from  8  to  16  miles. 

The  "  call "  alluded  to  is  used  in  connection  with  the  printing 
instrument  to  reduce  resistance.  The  wire  is  finer  and  the  call 
smaller  than  the  Morse  relay,  as  usually  made  at  the  establish- 
ment of  D.  Davis,  Jr.  (Palmer  and  Hall,  successors). 

The  House  coil  alluded  to  above  was  a  large  helix  of  the 
House  printing  instrument,  made  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Richards  of  New 
York.  The  resistance  of  this  helix,  therefore,  according  to  the 
above  carefully  conducted  experiments,  was  from  four  to  six 
times  that  of  the  "  Phelps  call,"  and  from  six  to  eight  times  the 
resistance  of  the  receiving  magnet  of  Palmer  and  Hall's  make. 

MAGNETOMETER. 

The  magnetometer  represented  in  Fig.  89  is  designed  to 
measure  the  magnetizing  power  of  galvanic  currents.  It  con- 
sists of  a  vertical  electro-magnet,  of  the  U  form,  with  an  arma- 
ture above  it,  attached  to  the  short  arm  of  a  balanced  lever. 
The  long  arm  of  the  lever  is  graduated  decimally,  to  measure,  by 
means  of  weights  of  from  100  to  10,000  grains,  the  force  re- 


382  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

quired  to  detach  the  armature  from  the  electro-magnet  when 
connected  with  the  battery  whose   power  is  to  be  determined. 


The  lever  is  supported  on  an  axis  with  knife-edge  bearings. 
The  armature  may  also  be  suspended  on  knife-edges  attached  to 
the  beam.  On  the  under  surface  of  the  armature  is  brazed  a 
thin  plate  of  brass,  to  prevent  its  adhesion  to  the  poles.  A  dif- 
ference of  magnetizing  power  of  10  grains  can  be  estimated  in  a 
series  extending  from  100  to  more  than  100,000  grains,  or  the 
limit  of  saturation  of  the  magnet.  Two  sets  of  screw-cups  will 
be  seen  on  the  board ;  one  of  these  is  connected  with  a  short  coil 
round  the  magnet,  the  other  with  a  long  coil.  By  making  this 
long  coil  of  fine  wire,  the  instrument  compares  currents  differing 
in  their  intensity.  Two  batteries  are  first  estimated  as  to  quan- 
tity, by  their  magnetizing  power  through  the  short  coil.  Their 
relative  intensity  is  then  shown  compared  with  their  quantity,  by 
their  magnetizing  power  through  the  long  coil,  their  intensity  be- 
ing in  mathematical  proportion  to  the  conducting-power  of  the 
wire  for  each,  and  therefore  to  the  amount  of  electricity  which 
passes.  In  comparing  the  power  of  different  batteries,  —  a  mat- 
ter of  some  practical  importance,  —  this  instrument  gives  a  rapid 
and  uniform  result. 

Instead  of  using  a  long  coil  of  wire,  surrounding  the  magnet, 
in  estimating  intensity,  the  current  may  be  passed  through  a  de- 
tached coil  of  fine  wire,  and  through  the  short  coil  of  the  instru- 
ment, which  would  give  a  similar  result. 


THE  TELEGRAPH  AS  A  DETECTIVE  AGENT.     383 

THE  TELEGRAPH  AS  A  DETECTIVE  AGENT. 

Among  the  general  uses  of  the  telegraph  to  the  public,  many 
examples  of  the  detection  of  crime  are  mentioned.  It  is  generally 
known  that  the  notorious  Tawell,  after  the  commission  of  the  mur- 
der of  Sherwood,  started  for  London  from  Slough,  by  the  Great 
Western  Railway.  Notice  of  the  crime,  and  a  description  of  his 
person,  however,  flew  with  the  speed  of  light  along  the  wires, 
and  arrived  at  Paddington  so  much  earlier  than  the  murderer 
himself,  that  upon  his  arrival  he  was  recognized,  tracked  from 
place  to  place,  finally  apprehended,  tried,  convicted,  and  executed. 

One  night,  at  ten  o'clock,  the  chief  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land received  a  notice  from  Liverpool,  by  electric  telegraph,  to 
stop  certain  notes.  The  next  morning  the  descriptions  were 
placed  upon  a  card  and  given  to  the  proper  officer,  to  watch  that 
no  person  exchanged  them  for  gold.  Within  ten  minutes  they 
were  presented  at  the  counter  by  an  apparent  foreigner,  who 
pretended  not  to  speak  a  word  of  English.  A  clerk  in  the  office 
who  spoke  German  interrogated  him,  when  he  declared  that  he 
had  received  them  on  the  exchange  at  Antwerp,  six  weeks  before. 
Upon  reference  to  the  books,  however,  it  appeared  that  the  notes 
had  only  been  issued  from  the  bank  about  fourteen  days,  and  there- 
fore he  was  detected  at  once  as  the  utterer  of  a  falsehood.  The 
terrible  Forrester  was  sent  for,  who  forthwith  locked  him  up,  and 
the  notes  were  detained.  A  letter  was  at  once  written  to  Liver- 
pool, and  the  real  owner  of  the  notes  came  up  to  town  on  Mon- 
day morning.  He  stated  that  he  was  about  to  sail  for  America, 
and  that  whilst  at  a  hotel  he  had  exhibited  the  notes.  The  perr 
son  in  custody  advised  him  to  stow  the  valuables  in  his  port- 
manteau, as  Liverpool  was  a  very  dangerous  place  for  a  man  to 
walk  about  with  so  much  money  in  his  pocket.  The  owner  of 
the  property  had  no  sooner  left  the  house  than  his  adviser  broke 
open  the  portmanteau  and  stole  the  property.  The  thief  was 
taken  to  the  Mansion  House,  and  could  not  make  any  defence. 
The  sessions  were  then  going  on  at  the  Old  Bailey.  Though  no 
one  who  attends  that  court  can  doubt  that  impartial  justice  and 
leniency  are  administered  to  the  prisoners,  yet  there  is  no  one 


384  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

who  does  not  marvel  at  the  truly  railway  speed  with  which  the 
trials  are  conducted.  By  a  little  after  ten,  the  next  morning,  — 
such  was  the  speed,  —  not  only  was  a  true  bill  found,  but  the 
trial  by  petty  jury  was  concluded,  and  the  thief  sentenced  to 
expiate  his  offence  by  ten  years'  transportation. 

The  following  is  extracted  from  the  telegraph  book  preserved 
at  the  Paddington  station  :  — 

"  Paddington,  10.20  A.  M.  — Mail  train  just  started.  It  con- 
tains three  thieves,  named  Sparrow,  Burrell,  and  Spurgeon,  in 
the  first  compartment  of  the  fourth  first-class  carriage." 

"Slough,  10.48  A.  M.  —  Mail  train  arrived.  The  officers 
have  cautioned  the  three  thieves." 

"  Paddington,  10.50  A.  M.  —  Special  train  just  left.  It  con- 
tained two  thieves :  one  named  Oliver  Martin,  who  is  dressed  in 
black,  crape  on  his  hat ;  the  other  named  Fiddler  Dick,  in  black 
trousers  and  light  blouse.  Both  in  the  third  compartment  of  the 
first  second-class  carriage." 

"Slough,  11.16  A.  M.  —  "Special  train  arrived.  Officers 
have  taken  the  two  thieves  into  custody,  a  lady  having  lost  her 
bag,  containing  a  purse  with  two  sovereigns  and  some  silver  in 
it ;  one  of  the  sovereigns  was  sworn  to  by  the  lady  as  having 
been  her  property.  It  was  found  in  Fiddler  Dick's  watch-fob." 

It  appears  that,  on  the  arrival  of  the  train,  a  policeman  opened 
the  door  of  the  third  compartment  of  the  first  second-class  car- 
riage, and  asked  the  passengers  if  they  had  missed  anything.  A 
search  in  pockets  and  bags  accordingly  ensued,  until  one  lady 
called  out  that  her  purse  was  gone.  "  Fiddler  Dick,  you  are 
wanted  !  "  was  the  immediate  demand  of  the  police-officer  beck- 
oning to  the  culprit,  who  came  out  of  the  carriage  thunderstruck 
at  the  discovery,  and  gave  himself  up,  together  with  the  booty, 
with  the  air  of  a  completely  beaten  man.  The  effect  of  the  cap- 
ture so  cleverly  brought  about  is  thus  spoken  of  in  the  telegraph 
book:  — 

"  Slough,  11.51  A.  M.  —  Several  of  the  suspected  persons  who 
came  by  the  various  down-trains  are  lurking  about  Slough,  utter- 
ing bitter  invectives  against  the  telegraph.  Not  one  of  those 
cautioned  has  ventured  to  the  Montem." 


THE  ASSOCIATED  PRESS.  385 

Ever  after  this  the  light-fingered  gentry  avoided  the  railway 
and  the  too  intelligent  companion  that  ran  beside,  and  betook 
themselves  again  to  the  road,  —  a  retrograde  step,  to  which  on  all 
great  occasions  they  continue  to  adhere. 

THE  ASSOCIATED  PRESS  OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  telegraphic  news  reports  of  the  American  press  have,  by 
their  remarkable  accuracy,  and  the  enormous  amount  of  matter 
daily  presented  in  them,  excited  the  surprise  of  the  press  of  all 
other  countries.  A  single  issue  of  many  of  our  metropolitan 
journals  often  contains  three  or  four  columns  of  telegraphic  news, 
which,  at  the  usual  rates  of  tolls,  would  amount  to  at  least  $  500, 
—  a  sum  quite  beyond  the  ability  of  even  the  leading  London 
newspapers  to  pay  daily.  By  what  arrangement,  therefore,  is  the 
press  from  Maine  to  Texas  supplied  with  every  important  event 
which  transpires  in  any  part  of  our  vast  country  within  a  few 
minutes  of  its  actual  occurrence?  Some  ten  years  since  the 
leading  journals  in  New  York  associated  themselves  together  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting,  and  sharing  the  expense  of  telegraph- 
ing, the  most  important  items  of  news  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
A  general  agent  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  practical 
operations  of  the  system  to  be  introduced,  whose  head-quarters  are 
in  New  York.  Other  agents  are  located  hi  all  the  principal  cities 
of  the  United  States  and  British  America,  and  in  some  of  the  Eu- 
ropean cities.  Subsequently  to  the  formation  of  the  New  York 
association,  nearly  all  the  daily  newspapers  in  the  United  States 
became  associated  with  it.  Everything  of  interest  occurring  in 
any  part  of  this  country  is  telegraphed  at  once  to  the  general 
office  in  New  York,  copies  being  dropped  at  all  intermediate 
points  on  the  route,  and  the  other  parts  of  the  country  being 
supplied  from  the  central  office. 

The  annual  expense  of  the  press  reports  for  the  United  States 
is  about  $  200,000,  of  which  the  New  York  press  pays  about  one 
half,  and  the  remainder  is  divided  among  the  different  members 
of  the  association  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  —  the  larger 
cities  paying  the  bulk  of  the  expense,  while  the  country  papers 
are  only  taxed  some  $  30  or  $  40  per  month  each. 

33  Y 


386  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

The  larger  share  of  the  press  reports  comes  over  the  wires 
during  the  night,  —  commencing  about  6  o'clock  P.  M.  and  con- 
cluding generally  about  1  o'clock  A.  M.,  but  not  unfrequently 
continuing  as  late  as  4  o'clock,  and  sometimes  all  night.  "We  have 
sometimes  been  occupied  in  sending  press  news  when  the  sun 
descended  below  the  horizon  and  when  it  arose  the  next  morning, 
having  continued  at  our  post  during  the  entire  night.  During 
the  sessions  of  Congress  the  reports  are  the  fullest,  and  towards 
the  period  of  adjournment  the  wires  are  occupied  until  a  late 
hour  every  night  in  transmitting  their  doings. 

One  of  the  earliest  feats,  after  the  extension  of  the  telegraph 
lines  west  to  Cincinnati,  was  brought  about  by  the  agency  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  before  any  regular  association  of  the  press 
was  formed  in  New  York. 

It  became  known  that  Mr.  Clay  would  deliver  a  speech  in 
Lexington,  Ky.,  on  the  Mexican  war,  which  was  then  (1847)  ex- 
citing much  public  attention.  From  Lexington  to  Cincinnati  was 
eighty  miles,  over  which  an  express  had  to  be  run.  Horses  were 
placed  at  every  ten  miles  by  the  Cincinnati  agent.  An  expert 
rider  was  engaged,  and  a  short-hand  reporter  or  two  stationed  in 
Lexington.  When  they  had  prepared  his  speech  it  was  then  dark. 
The  expressman,  on  receiving  it,  proceeded  with  it  for  Cincinnati. 
The  night  was  dark  and  rainy,  yet  he  accomplished  the  trip  in 
eight  hours,  over  a  rough,  hilly  country  road.  The  whole  speech 
was  received  at  the  Herald  office  at  an  early  hour  the  next  morn- 
ing, although  the  wires  were  interrupted  for  a  short  time  in  the 
night  near  Pittsburg,  in  consequence  of  the  limb  of  a  tree  having 
fallen  across  them.  An  enterprising  operator  in  the  Pittsburg 
office,  finding  communication  suspended,  procured  a  horse,  and 
rode  along  the  line  amidst  the  darkness  and  the  rain,  found  the 
place  and  the  cause  of  the  break,  which  he  repaired ;  then  re- 
turned to  the  office,  and  finished  sending  the  speech.  The  expense 
of  forwarding  the  speech  by  express  and  telegraph  amounted  to 
about  $500. 

By  the  rules  of  the  Associated  Press,  no  journal  can  receive 
an  exclusive  despatch  from  any  other  points  than  "Washington 
and  Albany.  The  propriety  of  this  arrangement  is  obvious,  for 


WORKING  SEVERAL  LINES  FROM  ONE  BATTERY.         387 

if  each  member  of  the  press  were  allowed  to  receive  exclusive 
telegraphic  despatches,  there  would  be  a  constant  rivalry  to  see 
which  would  outstrip  the  other ;  the.  result  of  which  would  lead 
to  the  breaking  up  of  the  association. 


RAPIDITY   OF   THE   COMBINATION 


On  Monday,  March  12th,  1860,  there 
one  wire,  from  Boston  to  New  York,  204  pi 
taining  7,456  words,  and  600  words  of  press^ 
New  York  to  Boston,  over  the  same  wire,  253  messages,  con- 
taining 8,957  words  ;  making  a  total  of  17,013  words.  The  time 
occupied  in  transmitting  this  large  number  of  words  was  nine 
hours.  The  length  of  the  circuit  operated  is  260  miles,  and  the 
weather  was  rainy  during  the  day.  The  despatches  were  all 
printed  in  plain  Roman  letters  by  the  Combination  instrument, 
and  accurately  punctuated. 

Messrs.  Grace  and  Edwards  were  the  operators  at  the  Boston 
and  New  York  termini  of  the  line. 

WORKING   SEVERAL  TELEGRAPH  LINES  FROM  ONE  BATTERY. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Elliott,  of  Boston,  read  before  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Arts  and  Sciences  the  following  interesting  paper  upon 
the  above  subject,  Tuesday  evening,  March  27,  1860  :  — 

"  Regarding  the  supplying,  at  an  extreme  station,  several  tele- 
graphic wires  from  one  battery  ;  and  the  influence  which  the 
breaking  of  a  portion  of  the  wires  so  connected  will  produce 
upon  the  strength  of  current  in  those  remaining  closed. 

"Proposition:  —  If  the  number  of  independent  telegraph  wires, 
of  equal  resistances,  leading  from  and  supplied  by  one  battery,  be 
reduced  from  x  to  y,  the  current  strength  on  each  of  the  remain- 

ing y  wires  will  be  ^^  times  the  current  strength  before  ex- 
isting on  each  of  the  x  wires  ;  and  the  increase  of  current  will  be 


g~y  times  that  current  strength. 


388  MISCELLANEOUS   MATTERS. 

"  In  the  above  proposition, 

_  R  =  resistance  of  one  of  the  telegraph  wires  and  helices. 
"  ~  ~  r    =  resistance  of  the  battery. 

"  Demonstration  :  —  The  resistance  of  conductors  is  inversely 
as  their  conducting  powers.  Hence,  multiplying  the  number  of 
conductors  divides  the  resistance.  But  since  the  current  of  the 
battery  is  supposed  to  be  distributed  equally  among  the  whole 
number  of  conductors,  the  current  strength  on  each  conductor 
may  be  obtained  by  dividing  the  total  current  strength  by  the 
number  of  conductors. 

"Applying  Ohm's  formula,  if,  with  a  given  battery,  the  current 
strength  made  manifest  in  a  single  telegraph  wire  of  average 
length  and  section,  with  helices  of  average  number  and  resistance, 
be  represented  by 

E     —  electro-motive  force  of  the  battery, 
r  -f-  R  —  the  sum  of  the  resistances, 

E 
the  current  strength  on  x  such  wires  will  be   -   —  ^  ,  and  the 

r+lP 

Tfl 

current  strength  on  each  of  the  x  wires  will  be         i  ^  - 

"But 

R  =  q  r; 
therefore, 

S,  the  current  strength  on  each  of  the  x  wires,  is  to 
S',  the  current  strength  on  each  of  the  y  wires, 

E  E 


xr  +  R    '     yr  +  R    '  '    q  +  y 

Hence 


and 


q      y  ?  -   y 

which  represents  the  increase  of  current  on  each  of  the  remain- 
ing y  wires. 

"  A  comparison  and  discussion  of  carefully  conducted  experi- 
ments of  Dr.  Muller,  of  Germany,  and  Mr.  Moses  G.  Farmer,  of 
Salem,  give  about  500  as  the  value  of  q,  the  ratio  of  the  re- 
sistance of  one  of  the  conductors  to  the  battery,  in  case  that  the 


WORKING  SEVERAL  LINES  FROM  ONE  BATTERY.         389 

battery  is  one  of  fifty  pairs  of  Grove,  in  which  the  exciting  fluid 
is  the  nitric  acid  of  commerce,  and  the  conductor  is  of  No.  9  iron 
wire  of  the  best  quality  used  in  the  United  States  for  telegraphic 
purposes,  240  miles  in  length,  with  from  eight  to  ten  Morse  relays 
of  average  resistance. 

"  If  we  assume  the  value  of  q  to  be  500,  that  is,  if  the  con- 
ductors and  battery  are  such  that  the  average  resistance  of  the 
conductors  outside  the  battery  is  500  times  the  resistance  of  the 
battery,  the  formula  will  become 


"  According  to  this  demonstration,  it  appears  that  any  number 
of  wires,  from  one  to  fifty,  of  resistances  equal  to  the  above,  may 
be  supplied  from  the  same  battery  without  appreciable  variation 
in  the  current.  Suppose  ten  wires  to  lead  from  the  same  battery, 
and  the  circuit  upon  nine  of  them  be  opened  at  once,  the  increase 
of  strength  upon  the  remaining  wire  will  be  but  one  fifty-sixth. 
Suppose,  as  an  extreme  case,  fifty  wires  lead  from  the  same  bat- 
tery, and  the  circuit  be  opened  upon  forty-nine  of  them  at  the 
same  instant,  the  augmentation  upon  the  remaining  wire  would 
be  but  about  one  tenth  of  the  current  strength  previously  existing 
upon  such  wire. 

"  Should  the  resistance  of  any  one  of  the  conductors  be  but  one 
half  that  of  the  average  resistance  above  assumed,  such  conductor 
must  be  considered  as  two  conductors  ;  if  but  one  third,  as  three 
conductors  ;  and  so  on,  for  other  cases. 

"  Should  one  of  the  conductors  be  imperfectly  insulated,  so 
that  the  amount  of  current  that  escapes  to  the  ground  before 
reaching  the  other  extreme  of  such  conductor  be  equal  to  the 
amount  that  traverses  the  entire  circuit,  such  conductor  should  be 
considered,  in  applying  the  above  formula,  as  two  conductors  ;  if 
the  escape  current  is  double  the  through  current,  the  conductor 
so  affected  should  be  treated  as  equivalent  to  three  conductors  ; 
and  so  with  other  cases." 


33 


PART    X. 

EARLY   DISCOVERIES  IN   ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

SOEMMERING'S  TELEGRAPH. 

MR.  S.  T.  SOEMMERING,  of  Munich,  first  applied  galvanism 
to  telegraphing ;  in  1809  he  constructed  an  apparatus,  which,  by 
decomposing  water,  enabled  him  to  give  signals.  At  the  station 
where  the  news  was  to  arrive  were  arranged  thirty-five  small 
glass  test-tubes,  filled  with  water,  and  reversed  in  a  reservoir  also 
containing  that  fluid.  Into  each  of  these  test-tubes  projected, 
through  the  bottom  of  the  reservoir,  the  gilt  end  of  one  of  thirty- 
five  wires,  that  came  from  the  transmitting  station.  Each  wire 
at  the  terminus  of  the  line  was  connected  to  its  own  distinct  brass 
plate  or  cylinder.  These  plates  were  arranged  in  a  row,  and  perfo- 
rated at  one  extremity :  by  introducing  two  conical  metallic  pins 
connected  with  the  poles  of  a  voltaic  battery  into  these  perforations, 
a  circuit  was  established.  Each  glass  tube  was  marked  with  one 
of  the  twenty-five  letters  of  the  German  alphabet,  and  ten  nu- 
merals, and  the  plate  connected  with  it  by  wire  at  the  other  station 
was  stamped  with  the  same.  The  circuit  being  established,  the 
water  in  two  of  the  tubes  was  decomposed,  the  gaseous  constitu- 
ents of  which,  rising,  gave  two  signs,  whose  succession  was  deter- 
mined by  considering  the  letter  over  the  evolved  hydrogen  at 
first.  Decomposition  of  water  gives  twice  the  volume  of  hydro- 
gen that  it  does  of  oxygen,  and  thus  no  mistake  could  well  be 
made  in  distinguishing  them.  The  conducting  wires  well  insu- 


SMITH'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH.  391 

lated,  after  passing  some   distance   from   the   apparatus,   were 
wound  into  a  rope  to  go  on  to  their  destination. 

Soemmering  connected  with  his  instrument  a  curiously  con- 
structed alarm,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  operator.  It  consisted 
of  a  two-armed  lever,  the  longer  arm  having  the  shape  of  a  spoon, 
while  the  shorter  supported  a  rolling  brass  ball.  The  arrange- 
ment was  easily  moved,  and  it  was  necessary  to  poise  it  after 
each  telegraphic  operation.  The  hollow  end  of  the  long  arm 
stood  over  the  end  of  one  of  the  wire  points,  and  at  the  com- 
mencement of  an  operation  received  the  hydrogen  that  was 
evolved  at  this  point.  After  half  a  minute,  sufficient  gas  was 
evolved  to  carry  upward  in  its  ascent  the  long  arm  of  the  lever, 
depress  the  shorter  one,  and  by  this  depression  permit  the  ball  to 
fall  through  a  tube  on  a  lever  connected  with  an  alarm-stop,  set  it 
loose,  and  thus  put  the  alarm  in  active  operation.  Though  very 
ingenious,  the  expense  of  so  many  wires,  and  their  insulation, 
precluded  the  use  of  this  instrument  on  a  large  scale ;  likewise, 
the  necessity  of  constant  attention  on  the  part  of  the  attendant  to 
watch  the  evolution  of  gas  in  two  of  the  thirty-five  tubes,  was  a 
strong  objection  to  it. 

ROBERT  SMITH'S  ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  TELEGRAPH. 

Mr.  R.  Smith,  Lecturer  on  Chemistry,  Blackford,  Scotland, 
invented,  in  1840,  an  electro-chemical  telegraph,  the  following  de- 
scription of  which  represents  it  in  its  improved  form  :  — 

In  the  annexed  woodcut  (Fig.  90)  A  represents  the  indicat- 
ing portion  of  the  telegraphic  apparatus  ;  a  is  a  leaden  cylinder 
fixed  upon  a  spindle,  which  is  supported,  so  as  to  revolve  freely, 
by  two  standards  attached  to  the  bottom  plate  of  the  apparatus  ; 
b  b  is  a  piece  of  calico  in  the  form  of  a  ribbon,  coiled  upon  the 
roller  c,  placed  in  the  trough  d,  its  contrary  extremity  being 
attached  to  the  second  roller  e,  revolving  loosely  in  standards 
attached  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  bottom  plate ;  B  is  the  com- 
municator, or  that  portion  of  the  apparatus  through  which  any 
given  signal  is  communicated  to  the  indicator  A  ;  f  is  a  block  of 
wood  having  a  brass  plate,  g,  attached  to  it ;  A  is  a  slip  of  wood 
hinged  to  the  block,  and  slightly  raised  above  the  surface  of  the 


392 


EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 


brass  plate  g,  by  means  of  a  spring  placed  beneath  it.   The  brass 
plate  g  is  connected  by  the  wire  k  with  the  positive  end  of  the 

voltaic  battery,  CJ  the  negative 
end  of  which  is  connected  with 
the  wire  /,  which  passes  along 
to  the  indicator,  A,  where  it  is 
attached  to  the  leaden  cylinder, 
a.  The  other  wire,  m,  is  at- 
tached to  the  finger-board,  h, 
through  which  it  passes,  project- 
ing slightly  on  the  lower  surface, 
its  contrary  end  being  attached 
to  the  impress  wire,  n,  which  is 
supported  loosely  by  a  cross- 
beam on  the  top  of  the  centre 
standards  of  the  indicator,  its 
lower  end  resting  upon  the  cali- 
co ribbon  on  the  leaden  cylinder 
beneath. 

To  put  this  apparatus  in  ac- 
tion, the  cells  of  the  battery,  (7, 
are  filled  with  water,  and  the 
trough  d  with  a  solution  of  fer- 
rocyanate  of  potash,  to  which 
have  been  added  a  few  drops  of 
nitric  acid.  The  roller  e,  to 
which  the  indicator-cloth  is  at- 
tached,  is  next  put  in  motion  by 
clock-work,  and  thus  the  cloth, 
wet  with  the  solution  contained  in  the  trough  d,  is  made  to  pass 
uniformly  over  the  leaden  cylinder  a,  below  the  point  of  the  im- 
press wire. 

The  apparatus  is  now  ready  for  signalling,  which  is  done  by 
pressing  down  the  finger-board,  h,  so  as  to  bring  the  end  of  the 
wire  n  in  contact  with  the  brass  plate  /,  thus  completing  the 
electric  circuit.  The  impress  wire  n  now  becomes  the  positive 
electrode,  and  the  cylinder  a  the  negative  one,  and  a  blue  mark 


AMPERE'S    TELEGRAPH.  393 

is  printed  upon  the  cloth,  by  the  electric  fluid  decomposing  the 
ferrocyanate  of  potash,  thus  forming  cyanate  of  iron.  If  the  cir- 
cuit is  formed  and  broken  rapidly,  a  succession  of  dots  will  be 
printed  upon  the  cloth ;  if  formed  and  broken  at  long  intervals, 
the  result  will  be  a  series  of  marks.  In  this  manner,  long  and 
short  spaces  and  corresponding  lines  will  be  formed,  according  to 
the  duration  of  the  opening  or  closing  of  the  circuit,  and  the 
speed  with  which  the  cloth  is  caused  to  pass  beneath  the  metallic 
pen.  An  arrangement  of  these  various  marks  thus  forms  the 
telegraphic  alphabet,  from  which  sentences  may  be  composed, 
embracing  any  information  which  it  may  be  necessary  to  trans- 
mit. For  instance,  a  single  dot  may  stand  for  A,  two  for  B,  three 
for  C,  and  a  dot  and  line  for  D,  &c. 

Experiment  has  proved  that  the  electric  energy  from  the  in- 
tensity battery,  in  producing  the  electro-chemical  effects,  increases 
instead  of  diminishing  in  regard  to  distance.  Faraday  ascer- 
tained that  the  quantity  of  electricity  required  to  decompose  a 
single  drop  of  water  is  equal  to  that  of  a  powerful  flash  of  light- 
ning, while  from  the  largest  single  circuit  ever  constructed  not 
the  slightest  chemical  effect  can  be  exhibited.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  small  single  circle,  composed  of  only  a  few  square  inches 
of  copper  and  zinc,  will  temporarily  magnetize  a  large  bar  of 
iron,  while  a  powerful  voltaic  trough  will  not  magnetize  a  lady's 
sewing-needle.  Throughout  the  whole  of  the  practical  details  of 
the  electro-magnetic  apparatus,  far  greater  care  in  workmanship 
is  required  than  in  the  voltaic  one.  Thus,  the  whole  of  the  join- 
ings of  the  conducting-wires  require  to  be  in  perfect  metallic 
contact,  and  carefully  isolated,  whilst  the  electro-chemical  com- 
munications may  be  transmitted  through  the  medium  of  a  wire 
fence. 

This  instrument  is  the  basis  of  the  Bain  telegraph,  previously 
described,  and  which  operated  so  successfully  in  this  country 
from  1849  to  1853. 

AMPERE'S  TELEGRAPH. 

When  Oersted's  splendid  discovery  was  announced,  and  it  was 
seen  that  feeble  electric  currents  would  produce  a  variety  of 


394  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

magnetic  actions,  electrical  telegraphing  received  a  new  impulse, 
and  numerous  forms  of  telegraphic  apparatus  were  proposed. 

In  1820,  Ampere  was  led  to  devise  the  first  telegraph  employ- 
ing the  deflection  of  the  magnetic  needle  by  the  agency  of  the 
galvanic  fluid,  which,  however,  it  appears  that  he  did  not  carry 
out  practically.  His  plan  was  to  have  as  many  magnetic  needles 
as  there  are  letters  of  the  alphabet,  which  might  be  put  in  action 
by  the  passage  of  currents  through  metallic  conductors,  made  to 
communicate  successively  with  the  battery  by  means  of  keys, 
which  could  be  pressed  down  at  pleasure,  and  might  give  place 
to  a  telegraphic  correspondence  that  would  surmount  all  distance, 
and  be  as  prompt  as  written  speech  to  transmit  thought. 

Peter  Barlow,  in  1825,  suggested  that  an  instantaneous  tele- 
graph might  be  established  by  means  of  conducting-wires  and 
compasses. 

In  1828,  Victor  Triboaillet  de  Saint  Amand  proposed  to  estab- 
lish a  subterranean  telegraph  between  Paris  and  Brussels,  using 
a  voltaic  battery  and  an  electroscope,  destined  to  render  sensi- 
ble the  slightest  galvanic  influence.  He  did  not  devise  any  sys- 
tem of  signals  to  represent  an  alphabet,  but  left  to  each  one  to 
adopt  at  pleasure  the  number  of  motions  to  express  the  words  or 
letters  which  he  might  need. 

Fechner,  of  Leipsic,  in  1829,  proposed  to  insulate  twenty-four 
wires  between  Dresden  and  Leipsic,  and,  by  means  of  the  same 
number  of  galvanometers,  and  signals  agreed  upon  beforehand, 
to  hold  telegraphic  communications. 

Doctor  Ritchie,  in  a  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution,  London, 
in  1830,  endeavored  to  illustrate  the  suggestion  of  Ampere,  and 
exhibited  a  model  of  a  telegraph  constructed  after  his  description. 

In  1832,  Baron  Schilling,  of  Cronstadt,  a  Russian  Counsellor 
of  State,  devised  a  needle  telegraph,  consisting  of  a  number  of 
platinum  wires,  insulated,  and  united  in  a  cord  of  silk,  which  put 
in  action  by  a  key  thirty-six  magnetic  needles,  each  of  which 
was  placed  vertically  in  the  centre  of  a  multiplier.  He  was  the 
first  who  adapted  to  this  kind  of  apparatus  an  ingenious  mechan- 
ism for  sounding  an  alarm,  which,  when  the  needle  turned  at  the 
beginning  of  the  correspondence,  was  set  in  play  by  the  fall  of  a 
little  ball  of  lead. 


STEINHEIL'S  TELEGRAPH.  395 

Counsellor  Gauss  and  Professor  Weber,  two  of  the  most  illus- 
trious philosophers  of  Germany,  to  whom  the  science  of  magnet- 
ism is  deeply  indebted,  entered  nobly  into  the  lists  in  establishing, 
by  means  of  electricity,  telegraphic  communication  between  the 
Astronomical  Observatory,  Physical  Cabinet,  and  Magnetic  Ob- 
servatory at  Gottingen,  the  first  notice  of  which  was  published 
in  1834.  It  consisted  of  a  double  line  of  wire  carried  over  the 
houses  and  steeples  of  Gottingen.  It  was  constructed  chiefly 
for  the  purpose  of  making  investigations  of  the  laws  of  the 
force  of  galvanic  currents  on  a  large  scale,  under  different  cir- 
cumstances. The  circuit  employed  in  1833  was  about  nine 
thousand  feet,  and  in  1834  fifteen  thousand,  —  three  miles.  The 
form  of  the  wire  employed  was  mostly  copper,  of  the  size  known 
in  commerce  as  No.  3,  of  which  a  length  of  one  metre  weighs 
eight  grammes  ;  the  wire  of  the  multiplier  in  the  Magnetic  Ob- 
servatory was  of  silvered  copper,  No.  14,  of  2.6  metres  to  the 
gramme.  They  first  employed  galvanic  electricity  by  using  small- 
sized  plates,  and  found  that  the  action  was  much  increased  by 
adding  to  their  number.  They  repeated  and  perfected  their 
first  form  of  telegraph  by  applying  the  phenomenon  of  magnetic 
induction  discovered  by  Professor  Faraday.  The  diverse  move- 
ments or  the  slow  oscillations  of  magnetic  bars,  caused  by  the 
passage  of  the  currents,  and  observed  by  the  aid  of  a  glass,  fur- 
nished to  Gauss  and  Weber  all  the  signals  which  they  wished  in 
corresponding ;  but  the  number  of  signals  which  they  could  trans- 
mit was  few,  and  the  time  occupied  by  each  considerable. 

The  main  apparatus  was  a  magneto-electric  machine,  and  to 
this  Counsellor  Gauss  adapted  a  peculiar  arrangement,  by  which 
the  direction  of  the  current  can  be  reversed  by  a  single  pressure 
of  the  finger. 

Professor  Weber  had  a  delicate  apparatus  for  setting  off  an 
alarm  of  a  clock,  placed  at  the  side  of  the  magnet  in  the  physical 
cabinet,  by  means  of  the  current  conducted  from  the  observatory. 

STEINHEIL'S    TELEGRAPH. 

This  telegraph  (Fig.  91)  was  in  operation  previous  to  July, 
1837,  and,  according  to  Professor  Morse,  had  been  adopted  by  the 


396 


EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 


Bavarian  government,  and  was  in  actual  operation  during  his  visit 
to  Europe  in  1838.  According  to  the  same  authority,  it  was  the 
only  European  telegraph  that  professed  to  write  the  intelligence. 


This  is  the  first  telegraph  on  record  in  which  the  earth  was  em- 
ployed for  half  the  circuit,  —  a  most  useful  application  of  knowl- 
edge, gained  at  great  labor,  and  not  patented,  but  published  freely 
to  the  world. 

Stemheil's  alphabet  is  one  of  great  beauty  and  simplicity,  and 


STEINHEIL'S   TELEGRAPH.  397 

his  entire  apparatus  displays  the  man  of  science,  learning,  and 
refinement.  In  connection  with  his  instrument,  he  employed  a 
series  of  musical  bells,  producing  sounds  which,  striking  upon  a 
cultivated  ear,  conveyed  a  telegraphic  language  in  imitation  of  the 
human  voice.  But  he  did  not  confine  himself  to  the  production  of 
evanescent  sound ;  he  also  employed  an  alphabet  of  dots,  similar 
in  principle  to  that  subsequently  adopted  by  Mr.  Morse.  This 
was  recorded  permanently  upon  an  endless  band  of  paper.  This 
form  of  telegraph  is  a  combination  of  the  successive  fundamental 
discoveries  of  Professors  Oersted  and  Faraday,  with  the  multi- 
plier of  Schweigger. 

As  an  inductor,  or  exciter,  Steinheil  employed  a  rotating  appa- 
ratus similar  to  the  magneto-electric  machine  described  on  page 
49.  The  multipliers  of  which  his  inductor  was  composed  con- 
sisted of  a  vast  number  of  turns  of  fine  insulated  copper  wire, 
made  necessary  in  order  that  the  resistance  offered  by  the  thicker 
wire  completing  the  circuit,  even  should  it  be  many  times  as  long, 
might  be  but  little  increased.  Of  the  galvanic  influence  excited, 
only  a  small  portion  was  employed,  and  that  when  at  its  maximum 
of  energy.  By  this  means  the  duration  was  very  short,  causing 
merely  a  momentary  deflection  of  the  little  magnetic  bars  em- 
ployed for  giving  the  signals.  In  order  to  heighten  the  action  of 
these  indicators,  they  were  surrounded  by  powerful  multipliers. 
Small  detached  magnets  were  so  placed  near  these  indicators, 
that  they  were  brought  back  to  their  original  position  when 
the  induced  current  ceased ;  or,  in  other  words,  as  soon  as  the 
deflection  took  place.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  repeat  signals  in 
very  rapid  succession.  The  same  indicator  could  with  ease  make 
five  deflections  in  a  second,  succeeding  each  other  as  fast  as  the 
sounds  of  a  repeater  when  striking.  Hence,  if  bells  are  placed  at 
the  proper  striking  distance  from  these  indicators,  they  will  ring 
at  every  deflection  produced ;  and,  as  it  is  quite  immaterial  at 
what  part  of  the  wire  completing  the  circuit  the  multiplier  con- 
taining the  indicator  is  inserted,  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  pro- 
duce the  sign  excited  by  induction  at  any  part  of  the  course  the 
wire  takes.  Should  it  be  desired  that  the  indicator,  instead  of 
producing  sounds,  should  write,  it  is. merely  required  to  place  at 
34 


398  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

one  end  of  the  little  magnetic  bar  a  small  vessel  filled  with  ink 
and  terminating  in  a  capillary  tube.  This  tube,  instead  of  strik- 
ing on  a  bell,  thus  makes  a  black  spot  upon  some  flat  surface  held 
in  front  of  it.  If  to  compose  writing,  the  surface  upon  which 
they  are  written  is  kept  moving  on  in  front  of  the  indicator  with 
a  uniform  velocity,  brought  about  by  an  endless  band  of  paper 
which  is  rolled  off  one  cylinder  on  to  another  by  clock-work.  As 
far  as  the  employment  of  this  telegraph  is  concerned,  it  may  be 
fairly  said  to  perform  all  that  can  be  reasonably  required  of  it. 
The  excitation  of  the  current  is  produced  by  half  a  turn  of  the 
indicator,  and  is  equally  available  at  all  times.  The  sounds  of 
the  bells  close  to  the  person  making  the  signals,  and  which,  being 
produced  at  the  other  station  too,  are  also  audible  there,  become 
by  practice  intelligible  as  a  language.  Should  they,  however,  be 
misunderstood,  the  communication  presents  itself  simultaneously 
written  down. 

"  Ampere  required  more  than  sixty  wires,  whereas  thirty  or  so 
were  sufficient  for  Soemmering.  Wheatsone  and  Cooke  reduced 
their  number  to  five  ;  Gauss,  and,  probably  in  imitation  of  him, 
Schilling,  as  likewise  Morse,  made  use  of  but  a  single  wire  run- 
ning to  the  distant  station  and  bajk.  One  might  imagine  that 
this  part  of  the  arrangement  could  not  be  further  simplified ;  such, 
however,  is  by  no  means  the  case.  We  have  found  that  even  the 
half  of  this  length  of  wire  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  with 
certain  precautions  its  place  is  supplied  by  the  ground  itself.  We 
know,  in  theory,  that  the  conducting  powers  of  the  ground  and  of 
water  are  very  small  compared  with  that  of  the  metals,  especially 
copper.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  previously  overlooked, 
that  we  have  it  within  our  reach  to  make  a  perfectly  good  con- 
ductor out  of  water  or  any  other  of  the  so-called  semi-conductors. 
All  that  is  required  is,  that  the  surface  that  its  section  presents 
should  be  as  much  greater  than  that  of  the  metal,  as  its  conduct- 
ing power  is  less.  In  that  case,  the  resistance  offered  by  the 
semi-conductors  will  equal  that  of  the  perfect  conductor ;  and  as 
we  can  make  conductors  of  the  ground  of  any  size  we  please, 
simply  by  adapting  to  the  ends  of  the  wires  plates  presenting  a 
sufficient  surface  of  contact,  it  is  evident  that  we  can  diminish  the 


STEINHEIL'S  TELEGRAPH.  399 

resistance  offered  by  the  ground  or  by  water  to  any  extent  we 
like.  We  can,  indeed,  so  reduce  this  resistance  as  to  make  it 
quite  insensible  when  compared  with  that  offered  by  the  metallic 
circuit,  so  that  not  only  is  half  the  wire  spared,  but  even  the  resist- 
ance that  such  a  circuit  would  present  is  diminished  by  one  half. 
This  fact,  the  importance  of  which  in  the  erection  of  galvanic  tel- 
egraphs speaks  for  itself,  furnishes  an  additional  feature  in  which 
galvanism  resembles  electricity.  The  experiments  of  Winckler, 
at  Leipsic,  had  already  shown  that,  with  frictional  electricity,  the 
ground  may  replace  a  portion  of  the  discharging  wire. 

"  The  inquiry  into  the  laws  of  dispersion,  according  to  which  the 
ground,  whose  mass  is  unlimited,  is  acted  upon  by  the  passage  of 
the  galvanic  current,  appears  to  be  a  subject  replete  with  inter- 
est. The  galvanic  excitation  cannot  be  confined  to  the  portions 
of  earth  situated  between  the  two  ends  of  the  wire ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  cannot  but  extend  itself  indefinitely,  and  it  became,  there- 
fore, now  only  dependent  on  the  law  that  caused  the  excitation 
of  the  ground,  and  the  distance  of  the  exciting  terminations  of 
the  wire,  whether  it  was  necessary  or  not  to  have  any  metallic 
communication  at  all  for  carrying  on  telegraphic  intercourse. 

u  I  can  here  only  state,  in  a  general  way,  that  I  have  succeeded 
in  deducing  this  law  experimentally  from  the  phenomena  it  pre- 
sents ;  and  that  the  result  of  the  investigation  is,  that  the  excita- 
tion diminishes  rapidly,  as  the  distance  between  the  terminal 
wires  increases. 

"  An  apparatus  can  be  constructed  in  which  the  inductor,  having 
no  metallic  connection  with  the  multiplier,  by  nothing  more  than 
the  excitation  transmitted  through  the  ground,  will  produce  gal- 
vanic currents  in  that  multiplier  sufficient  to  cause  a  visible 
deflection  of  the  bar.  This  is  a  hitherto  unobserved  fact,  and 
may  be  classed  among  the  most  extraordinary  phenomena  that 
science  has  revealed  to  us.  It  holds  good,  however,  for  small  dis- 
tances. It  must  be  left  to  the  future  to  decide  whether  we  shall 
ever  succeed  in  telegraphing  at  great  distances  without  any  me- 
tallic communication  at  all.  My  experiments  prove  that  such  a 
thing  is  possible  up  to  distances  of  fifty  feet.  For  distant  stations 
we  can  only  conceive  it  feasible  by  augmenting  the  power  of  the 


400 


EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 


galvanic  induction,  or  by  appropriate  multipliers  constructed  for 
the  purpose,  or,  finally,  by  increasing  the  surface  of  contact 
presented  by  the  ends  of  the  multiplier.  At  all  events,  the 
phenomenon  merits  our  best  attention,  and  its  influence  will  not 
perhaps  be  altogether  overlooked  in  the  theoretic  views  we  may 
form  with  regard  to  galvanism  itself." 

ALEXANDER'S  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

A  model  to  illustrate  the  nature  and  operation  of  this  tele- 
graph was  exhib- 
ited at  a  meeting 
of  the  Society  of 
Arts  in  Edinburgh, 
in  October,  1837. 

The  model  con- 
sists of  a  wooden 
chest,  five  feet  in 
length  and  three  in 
width,  three  feet 
deep  at  one  end, 
and  one  foot  at  the 
other.  Thirty  cop- 
per wires  extend 
from  end  to  end  of 
the  chest,  and  are 
kept  apart  from 
each  other.  At 
one  end  they  are 
fastened  to  a  hori- 
zontal line  of  wood- 
en keys,  precisely 
similar  to  those  of 
a  piano-forte ;  at 
the  other,  they  ter- 
minate closely  to 
thirty  small  aper- 
tures, equally  distributed,  in  six  rows  of  five  each,  over  a  screen 


ALEXANDER'S  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  4Q1 

of  three  feet  square,  which  forms  the  end  of  the  chest.  Under 
these  apertures,  on  the  outside,  are  painted  in  black  paint,  upon  a 
white  ground,  the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet,  with  the 
necessary  points,  the  colon,  semicolon,  and  full  point,  and  an 
asterisk  to  denote  the  termination  of  a  word.  The  letters  occupy 
spaces  about  an  inch  square.  The  wooden  keys  at  the  other  end 
have  also  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  painted  on  them  in  the  usual 
order.  The  wires  serve  merely  for  communication,  and  we  will 
now  describe  the  apparatus  by  which  they  work.  This  consists 
of  a  pair  of  plates,  zinc  and  copper,  forming  a  battery  placed 
under  the  keys ;  and  thirty  steel  magnets,  about  four  inches  long, 
placed  behind  the  letters  painted  on  the  screen.  The  magnets 
move  horizontally  on  axes,  and  are  poised  within  a  flat  ring  of 
copper  wire,  formed  of  the  ends  of  the  communicating-wires. 
On  their  north  ends  they  carry  small,  square  bits  of  black  paper, 
which  project  in  front  of  the  screen,  and  serve  as  opercula  or 
covers  to  conceal  the  letters.  -  When  any  wire  is  put  in  commu- 
nication with  the  battery  at  the  south  end,  the  galvanic  influence 
is  instantly  transmitted  to  the  north  end ;  and,  in  accordance  with 
a  well-known  law  discovered  by  Oersted,  the  magnet  at  the  end 
of  that  wire  instantly  turns  round  to  the  right  or  left,  bearing 
with  it  the  operculum  of  black  paper,  and  unveiling  a  letter. 
When  the  key  A,  for  instance,  is  pressed  down  with  the  finger  at 
the  south  end,  the  wire  attached  to  it  is  immediately  put  in  com- 
munication with  the  battery ;  and  the  same  instant  the  letter  A 
at  the  north  end  is  unveiled  by  the  magnet  turning  to  the  right, 
and  withdrawing  the  operculum.  When  the  finger  is  removed 
from  the  key,  it  springs  back  to  its  place,  the  communication  with 
the  battery  ceases,  the  magnet  resumes  its  position,  and  the  letter 
is  again  covered. 

The  principle  of  Alexander's  telegraph  is  represented  in  the 
accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  92).  A  is  a  voltaic  battery;  B, 
a  trough  filled  with  mercury ;  C,  a  key  to  be  pressed  down  by  the 
finger  of  the  operator.  E  is  the  end  of  a  conducting-wire,  which 
dips  into  the  mercury  when  the  key  is  depressed,  and  completes 
the  electric  circuit ;  D  D  is  the  distant  dial  upon  which  the  sig- 
nals are  to  be  shown ;  F  F  are  screens,  thirty  in  number,  each 
34*  z 


402  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

being  fixed  to  a  needle,  corresponding  to  the  finger-keys  before 
described.  When  no  electricity  is  passing,  these  screws  remain 
stationary  over  the  several  letters,  &c.,  and  conceal  them  from 
view ;  but  when  a  current  is  made  to  flow  by  the  depression  of  a 
key,  the  corresponding  needle  in  the  distant  instrument  is  de- 
flected, carrying  the  screen  with  it,  and  uncovering  the  letter, 
which  becomes  exposed  to  view,  as  at  0. 


VAIL'S  PRINTING  TELEGRAPH. 

The  printing  telegraph  of  Alfred  Vail  was  proposed  in  Sep- 
tember, 1837.  It  consists  of  a  type-wheel,  having  on  its  surface 
the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet.  On  the  side  of  the  wheel 
are  twenty-six  holes.  The  type-wheel  is  moved  circularly  by 
means  of  a  spring  that  the  electro-magnetic  key  causes  to  ad- 
vance at  each  interruption  and  return  of  the  current.  The 
paper  advances  under  the  type-wheel  by  means  of  an  indepen- 
dent clock-movement. 

The  precision  of  the  operation  depends  on  the  exact  corre- 
spondence of  the  machinery,  situated  at  the  two  extremities  of 
the  telegraphic  line.  It  is  necessary  that  the  type-wheel  pre- 
sent the  same  letter  at  both  stations,  and  that  the  clock  move  at 
the  same  rate.  But  this  system  has  never  been  put  in  execution, 
and  the  inventor  considers  it  inferior  to  the  Morse,  which  he 
partly  devised. 

STURGEON'S  ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH. 

In  the  Annals  of  Electricity  for  1840  are  published  a  descrip- 
tion and  drawing  of  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  proposed  by 
William  Sturgeon,  of  London,  a  philosopher  who,  by  his  numer- 
ous experiments  and  researches  into  the  subject  of  electricity 
and  magnetism,  has  conferred  signal  benefits  upon  mankind. 

The  arrangement  of  Sturgeon's  apparatus  is  seen  in  Figs.  93 
and  94,  the  former  being  a  side  view,  and  the  latter  an  end  view 
of  it ;  m  in  both  figures  represents  the  magnet ;  i,  the  cross-piece ; 
a  b,  the  lever ;  and  /,  the  fulcrum.  The  cards  at  the  longer  ex- 


STURGEON'S  ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH. 


403 


tremities  of  the  six  levers  are  numbered  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  which, 
individually,  and  by  a  series  of  simple 
combinations,  form  all  the  signals  required. 
When  the  levers  are  in  the  position  shown 
in  Figs.  93  and  94,  the  magnet  is  out  of 
action,  in  consequence  of  the  battery  cir- 
cuit being  interrupted.  If,  now,  the  bat- 
tery circuit  were  to  be  closed,  the  mag- 
net m  would  immediately  be  brought  into 
action,  and  its  attractive  force  would  bring 
down  the  cross-piece  i ;  which,  being  at- 
tached to  the  shorter  arm  of  the  lever, 
would  raise  the  longer  arm,  with  its  card 
and  sign,  into  the  position  of  the  upper 
dotted  circle,  where  it  becomes  visible 
through  a  circular  opening  in  the  face  of 
the  instrument,  as  at  5  in  Fig.  95.  When 
that  particular  sign  has  appeared  the  re- 
quired time  to  be  observed,  that  circuit 
is  opened,  the  magnet  m  loses  its  power, 
and  the  longer  arm  of  the  lever  pre- 
ponderates and  falls  down  to  its  first 
position,  and  the  card  with  its  sign  dis- 
appears. 

The  face   or   dial  of  the  telegraph   is 
represented   by   Fig.  95,  which   may  be 
either   of  painted  wood   or   metal,  silvered   in  the   manner  of 
clock-faces   or  barometer-scales.      On  the  upper    part  of  the 

Fig.  95. 


1  =a 

12  =  h 

23  =  n 

34  =  r 

45  =  M 

2  =  6 

13  =  » 

24  =o 

35  =  s 

46  =  v 

3  =  d 

14  =  & 

25  =p 

36  =  f 

4  =  e 

15  =  J 

26  =  9 

5  =  f 

16  =  m 

56 


404  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

dial  there  are  six  circular  openings,  for  the  occasional  appear- 
ance of  the  cards  with  their  figures,  which  are  attached  to  the 
longer  arms  of  the  six  levers  (Fig.  93).  Below  the  circular 
openings  in  the  dial-plate  are  arranged  the  signals  which  are 
to  represent  all  the  alphabetical  letters  that  are  necessary  for 
the  spelling  of  words.  The  signals  are  thus  continually  before 
the  eyes  of  the  operator,  and  are  too  simple  to  miss  being  under- 
stood. These  levers,  with  their  magnets,  &c.  (Figs.  93  and  94), 
are  placed  behind  the  dial,  in  a  suitable  case,  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  figures  on  the  cards  may  appear  at  the  circular  open- 
ings whenever  their  levers  move  upward  by  the  attractions  of 
their  respective  magnets  at  the  other  or  shorter  arms,  and  dis- 
appear below  those  circular  openings  when  the  magnets  are  out 
of  action. 

At  the  battery  station,  the  six  insulated  wires  are  to  be  attached 
to  six  ivory  keys,  with  springs,  like  piano-keys,  by  the  downward 
motion  of  which  the  wires  are  connected  with  the  battery.  On 
the  top  of  the  keys  are  painted  the  figures  from  1  to  6,  so  that 
when  one  finger  is  placed  on  key  2  and  another  on  key  5,  the 
magnets  2  and  5  at  the  other  station  are  brought  into  play,  and, 
by  attracting  their  respective  pieces  of  iron,  the  figures  25  make 
their  appearance  on  the  dial,  as  seen  in  Fig.  95,  and  the  letter  p 
is  understood.  By  these  means  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  are 
represented  without  the  possibility  of  error. 

MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH. 

In  order  to  solve  the  problem  as  to  what  credit  is  due  to  others 
than  Professor  Morse,  in  the  discovery  of  the  principles,  and 
the  invention  of  the  apparatus,  embodied  in  the  American  or 
Morse  system  of  telegraph,  let  us  analyze  carefully  each  part, 
and,  so  far  as  we  are  able,  give  the  names  of  the  discoverers  or 
inventors,  with  the  dates  when  their  inventions  or  discoveries 
were  patented  or  made  public. 

Morse's  complete  telegraph  apparatus,  consists  of,  — 

1.  An  insulated  metallic  conductor. 

2.  Use  of  the  earth  for  the  return  current. 

3.  Constant  galvanic  battery. 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH.  405 

4.  An  electric  current. 

5.  An  electro-magnet  and  armature. 

6.  Key,  or  circuit  breaker  and  closer. 

7.  Clock-work  for  moving  an  endless  band  of  paper. 

8.  Lever  and  steel  point  or  pen  for  marking. 

9.  Alphabet  of  dots  and  lines. 

10.  Local  circuit  for  obtaining  increase  of  power. 

11.  Adaptation  of  the  sounds  produced  in  making  dots  and 

lines  to  audible  telegraphy. 

1.  An  Insulated  Metallic  Conductor.  —  Doctor  Watson,  in  1747, 
in  the  presence  of  many  scientific  persons,  transmitted  the  electric 
spark  through  2,800  feet  of  wire  and  8,000  feet  of  water,  thus 
employing  in  his  experiments  the  use  of  the  earth-circuit.    After- 
wards, on  the  14th  of  August,  1747,  Doctor  Watson  conducted 
an  experiment  on  a  much  larger  scale  at  Shooter's  Hill.     The 
wire  was  insulated  by  baked  wood,  and  was  10,600  feet,  or  nearly 
two  miles,  long. 

In  1816,  Francis  Ronalds  insulated  eight  miles  of  wire  for 
electric  telegraph  experiments,  at  Hammersmith,  England. 

In  1828,  Harrison  Gray  Dyar  erected  a  telegraph  line  at  the 
race-course  upon  Long  Island,  using  iron  wire,  glass  insulators, 
and  wooden  posts. 

In  1833,  Gauss  and  Weber  constructed  a  telegraph  line  at 
Gb'ttingen,  between  the  Observatory  and  the  Cabinet  de  Phy- 
siques, a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  The  wires  were 
run  over  the  tops  of  the  houses,  as  at  present  in  most  Ameri- 
can towns. 

2.  Use  of  the  Earth  for  the  Return   Current.  —  In  1837,  Pro- 
fessor Steinheil  operated  a  telegraph  line,  twelve  miles  in  length, 
between  Munich  and  Bogenhausen  in  Germany,  using  iron  wire 
conductors,  and  the  earth  for  a  return  current.     This  discovery 
was  published  in  1837,  in  German,  and  translated  into  English 
by  Julian  Guggsworth,  November  24th,  1838  ;  and  yet  Professor 
Morse  seems  not  to  have  been  aware  of  it  until  some  six  years 
afterward,  as  we  find  him  using  an  entire  metallic  circuit  upon 
the  line  constructed  by  him  between  Baltimore  and  Washington 
in  1844. 


406  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

3.  Constant   Galvanic  Battery.  —  The  constant  galvanic  bat- 
tery was  invented  by  Professor  Daniell  of  London  in  1836. 

4.  The  electric  current  was  discovered  by  Volta  in  1800. 

5.  An  Electro-magnet  and  Armature. — Electro-magnetism  was 
discovered  by  Oersted  in  1819.     Professor  Schweigger  of  Halle, 
in  1820,  invented  the  galvanometer,  or  electro-magnetic  multi- 
plier,—  the  basis  of  all  the  needle  telegraphs.      M.  Arago,  at 
the  suggestion  of  M.  Ampere,  made  a  galvanic  conductor  in  the 
form  of  a  helix,  or  coil,  into  the  axis  of  which  he  placed  a  needle. 
This  helix  was  simply  a  spiral  coil  of  wire,  the  extremities  of  it 
being  connected  to  the  opposite  poles  of  a  battery,  thus  permit- 
ting it  to  make  a  part  of  an  electrical  circuit.     By  this  arrange- 
ment, the  current  is  almost  at  right  angles  to  the  needle,  and 
as  each  coil  adds  its  effect  to  that  of  the  others,  the  entire  action 
of  the  spiral  helix  is  extremely  powerful.     In  this  way  a  needle 
can   be  completely  magnetized  in  an  instant,  and   this   is  the 
method  now  principally  employed  by  artisans  in  the  manufacture 
of  compass-needles. 

Mr.  William  Sturgeon,  a  native  of  London,  in  1825,  discov- 
ered that,  when  wires  of  soft  iron  were  placed  within  the  coil 
of  a  conducting-wire,  they  were  rendered  intensely  magnetic. 

Professor  Henry,  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at 
Washington,  greatly  extended  the  knowledge  upon  this  subject 
during  the  period  from  1828  to  1831,  and  to  him  is  due  the  credit 
of  constructing  the  present  form  of  horseshoe  electro-magnet 
used  upon  the  Morse  and  various  other  systems  of  magnetic 
telegraph.  Cooke  and  Wheatstone  used  this  form  of  the  electro- 
magnet in  their  telegraph,  patented  June  12,  1837. 

Its  use  was  suggested  to  Professor  Morse  by  Dr.  Charles  T. 
Jackson  of  Boston,  on  a  voyage  from  Havre  to  New  York,  in  the 
packet-ship  Sully,  in  1 832,  together  with  its  application  to  electric 
telegraphy.  The  following  is  Dr.  Jackson's  account  of  the  sug- 
gestions made  to  Professor  Morse,  in  a  deposition  sworn  to  at 
Boston,  May  21,  1850. 

"While  on  the  voyage,  one  day  at  table  I  introduced  the 
subject  of  electricity  and  electro-magnetism,  describing  an  ex- 
periment by  Pouillet  of  sending  electricity  a  great  many  times 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH.  407 

around  the  Academy  of  the  Sorbonne,  without  any  perceptible 
loss  of  time.  There  being  some  expressions  of  incredulity,  I 
endeavored  to  enforce  the  fact  by  alluding  to  Franklin's  ex- 
periment of  transmitting  an  electric  spark  to  a  great  distance, 
using  a  wire  and  water  as  conductors.  Mr.  Morse  asked  in 
which  of  Franklin's  works  it  was  contained,  and  said  he  had 
never  read  it  I  stated  I  believed  it  was  in  his  Autobiography. 
After  some  discussion  upon  the  point,  one  of  the  passengers  said, 
*  It  would  be  well  if  we  could  send  news  in  this  rapid  manner.' 
This  was  a  casual  remark,  in  allusion  to  our  earnest  desire  to 
hear  from  home,  as  there  was  some  apprehension  of  a  war  with 
France.  Mr.  Morse  said,  *  Why  can't  we  ? '  I  immediately  re- 
plied, '  We  can ;  there  is  no  difficulty  about  it ; '  —  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  explain  various  methods  by  which  I  conceived  that 
intelligence  might  be  transmitted  by  electricity  and  electro-mag-* 
netism.  First,  I  proposed  to  count  the  sparks  in  a  disjoined  wire 
circuit,  counting  the  sparks  in  time,  —  that  is,  counting  or  not- 
ing the  sparks,  and  the  intervals  between  the  sparks.  Second, 
by  producing  colored  marks  upon  prepared  paper,  the  paper 
being  saturated  with  an  easily  decomposable  neutral  salt,  and 
stained  with  turmeric,  or  some  other  easily  stained  neutral  colors. 
Third,  by  saturating  the  paper  with  a  solution  of  acetate  of  lead, 
or  carbonate  of  lead,  the  paper  being  moistened  while  the  electric 
current  was  passed  through  it,  or  over  its  surface,  between  points 
of  platina  wire.  Fourth,  /  proposed  to  make  use  of  the  electro- 
magnet,  which  is  formed  by  coiling  copper  wire,  insulated  by 
being  wound  with  silk,  around  soft  iron,  bent  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  U,  the  iron  being  rendered  temporarily  magnetic  by  the 
passage  of  the  galvanic  current  through  the  copper  wire,  a  keeper 
or  armature  of  soft  iron  being  placed  across  the  poles,  and  at- 
tracted firmly  against  them  during  the  time  the  galvanic  current 
is  passing.  I  proposed  to  connect  with  this  keeper  the  short  arm 
of  a  lever-beam,  and  to  fix  a  point  of  steel  in  the  long  arm  of 
the  lever,  so  that,  when  the  keeper  was  drawn  to  the  electro- 
magnet, the  point  should  perforate  holes  in  the  paper.  The 
paper  was  to  be  drawn  from  one  reel  to  another  by  clock-work 
machinery,  so  that  in  intervals  of  space  these  holes  might  be 
punctured,  and  telegraphic  indications  be  produced  thereby. 


408  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

"  When  I  mentioned  the  subject  of  electro-magnetism,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Morse,  during  this  conversation,  he  asked  me 
the  meaning  of  the  term,  saying,  *  Electro-magnetism  !  How 
does  that  differ  from  other  magnetism  ? '  I  explained  it  to  him, 
making  drawings  of  electro-magnets  and  a  galvanic  battery  for 
that  purpose. 

"  We  discussed  the  subject  for  some  time,  and  during  this  con- 
versation I  spoke  of  having  an  electro-magnet  on  board,  and 
two  galvanic  batteries,  which  were  stowed  away  between  decks. 
I  made  drawings  —  rough  sketches,  as  I  do  not  profess  to  be 
a  draftsman  —  of  the  electro-magnet,  which  I  gave  to  Mr.  Morse, 
who  copied  them  into  his  note-book  in  an  artistic  manner,  ask- 
ing of  me  explanations  as  he  made  the  drawings. 

"Within  a  few  days  after  my  first  conversation  above  men- 
tioned, I  think  the  third  day  after,  I  had  a  conversation  with 
Mr.  Morse  as  to  the  practicability  of  devising  a  system  of  signs 
which  could  be  readily  interpreted.  I  proposed  an  arrangement 
of  punctured  points  or  dots,  to  represent  the  ten  numerals.  Mr. 
Morse  proposed  to  reduce  it  to  five  numerals  and  a  zero,  saying 
that  all  numbers  could  be  represented  thereby.  Mr.  Morse  took 
a  dictionary  and  numbered  the  words,  and  then  tried  a  system  of 
dots  against  it.  We  assigned  to  each  word,  selected  for  that 
purpose,  a  separate  number,  and  the  numbers  were  indicated 
by  dots  and  spaces.  We  took  our  respective  places  at  opposite 
sides  of  a  table.  He  would  send  me  despatches  written  in  nu- 
merals, which  I  would  examine  by  the  aid  of  a  marked  diction- 
ary which  I  held  in  my  hand,  and  I  found  no  great  difficulty  in 
reading  them ;  and  then  we  would  change,  he  taking  the  diction- 
ary and  I  sending  the  words.  Mr.  Morse  took  the  principal 
part  in  arranging  the  system  of  signs,  and  deserves  the  greatest 
credit  for  it.  Mr.  Morse  made  notes  of  the  system  of  signs,  so 
far  as  we  had  completed  it,  in  his  note-book,  either  fully  or  par- 
tially. We  had  absolutely  concluded  on  no  complete  system  be- 
fore the  termination  of  the  voyage. 

"I  saw  Mr.  Morse's  note-book,  in  which  he  made  his  plans 
and  observations,  from  his  first  entries  in  it  in  regard  to  the 
telegraph,  until  the  end  of  the  voyage.  He  would  often  bring 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  409 

it  and  show  me  the  notes  and  plans  in  it,  but  I  never  had  it 
in  my  possession.  I  saw  nothing  in  it  which  I  had  not  ex- 
plained and  given  him  rough  drafts  of,  except  the  system  of 
signs,  which  was  the  result  of  our  joint  action,  as  before 
stated. 

"We  gave  the  name  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  to  the 
instrument  proposed  and  explained  as  above,  and  this  was  the 
name  by  which  it  was  known  and  called  in  our  conversations. 

u  After  our  arrival  in  New  York,  he  brought  to  me,  in  New 
York,  a  plate  of  copper  and  a  plate  of  zinc,  each  about  two 
inches  square,  connected  by  a  strip  of  copper  more  than  a 
foot  in  length,  and  about  half  an  inch  in  width,  and  asked 
me  if  that  would  do  for  an  elementary  battery.  I  told  him 
no ;  that  it  would  make  no  battery  at  all ;  that  the  plates  must 
be  near  each  other,  and  not  connected,  for  an  elementary  bat- 
tery, which  he  proposed  to  make.  His  producing  a  contrivance 
like  that  showed  he  was  not  acquainted  with  the  subject  of 
galvanism,  not  even  knowing  how  to  construct  a  galvanic  bat- 
tery, which  is  essential  to  produce  the  electric  current.  I  ex- 
plained to  him  how  it  could  be  made.  In  a  few  days  after  my 
arrival  at  New  York,  I  returned  to  Boston.  Afterwards  I  went 
to  Philadelphia  to  attend  the  medical  lectures ;  and  in  the  spring 
of  1833  I  commenced  the  practice  of  my  profession  in  Boston. 
Soon  after,  my  circumstances  became  embarrassed  through  the 
loss  of  my  property  from  the  failure  of  my  agent,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  devote  myself  assiduously  and  almost  exclusively  to 
the  support  of  myself  and  of  my  family,  having  been  married  in 
February,  1834,  so  that  I  gave  little  attention,  comparatively,  to 
the  Magnetic  Telegraph. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1833,  soon  after  my  return  from  Philadelphia, 
an  article  was  shown  to  me  in  the  New  York  Railroad  Journal, 
wherein  an  account  was  given  of  a  caveat  filed  at  our  Patent- 
Office  for  a  Magnetic  Telegraph,  by  an  Englishman.  This  in- 
strument resembling,  in  some  of  its  details,  that  which  I  had 
described  to  Mr.  Morse,  I  wrote  to  him,  requesting  him  to  ascer- 
tain who  this  Englishman  was,  and  if  he  had  got  possession  of 
our  plan.  I  think  Mr.  Morse  replied  to  this  letter,  but  I  cannot 
35 


410  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

i 
say  positively,  as  many  of  my  letters  were  destroyed  by  a  fire  in 

my  house,  in  1845. 

"  Subsequently  Mr.  Morse  visited  me  in  Boston,  and  told  me  he 
found  this  Englishman  boarded  at  Bunker's  hotel,  where  Cap- 
tain Pell  boarded,  and  that  he  had  probably  heard  Captain  Pell 
talk  about  it  at  table. 

"  During  this  visit  Mr.  Morse  requested  me  to  put  an  experi- 
mental line  of  telegraph  between  Boston  and  Cambridge,  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  its  practicability.  I  declined,  on  account  of  the 
embarrassed  state  of  my  affairs,  the  expense  being  more  than  I 
could  afford.  I  told  him  that  the  batteries  would  be  very  expen- 
sive,—  that  several  would  be  required  in  order  to  maintain  a 
steady  current,  no  constant  battery  having  been  invented  at  that 
time.  At  the  time  these  conversations  took  place,  and  for  some 
years  afterwards,  I  was  aware  that  the  Electro -Magnetic  Tele- 
graph could  not  be  rendered  commercially  valuable  for  want 
of  a  sustaining  battery,  or  one  that  would  keep  up  a  steady  and 
uniform  current  of  electricity,  no  such  battery  being  at  that 
time  known.  Professor  Daniell  of  London  invented  the  first 
constant  or  sustaining  battery  about  1836,  and  Grove's  platinum 
constant  battery,  which  is  still  better,  was  not  invented  until 
a  year  or  more  after  that  of  Daniell.  These  or  similar  bat- 
teries are  essential  to  the  economic  use  of  the  Electro-Mag- 
netic Telegraph,  so  as  to  make  it  available  for  commercial 
purposes,  although  the  practicability  of  such  a  telegraph  could 
be  and  was  demonstrated  by  aid  of  batteries  previously  in 
use." 

6.  Key,  or  Circuit  Breaker  and  Closer.  —  The  signal-key,  or 
circuit  breaker  and  closer,  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  obvi- 
ous contrivances  in  connection  with  the  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph.    Ampere  described  the  use  of  the  key  in  1820. 

7.  Clock-work  for  moving  an  Endless  Band  of  Paper.  —  The 
graphic  register  described  and  used  by  Mr.  Morse  is  a  com- 
mon and  well-known  instrument,  used  for  registering  evanescent 
signs. 

In  the  Memoires  de  V Academic  des  Sciences  of  Paris,  for  the 
year  1734,  an  anemometer,  or  wind  measure,  is  described  and 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH.  4H 

represented  by  M.  D'Ons  en  Bray.  In  this  instrument  a  cylinder 
five  inches  long  is  mounted  on  a  vertical  axis,  connected  with  a 
vane  above.  This  cylinder  has  thirty-two  metallic  points  ar- 
ranged spirally  upon  it,  corresponding  to  the  thirty-two  points  of 
the  compass.  A  fillet  of  paper  five  inches  broad  passes  over  a 
second  cylinder,  on  an  axis  parallel  to  the  first,  and  sufficiently 
near  to  it  for  the  metallic  point  on  the  first  presented  to  it  to 
make  the  fillet  on  the  second.  The  paper  is  carried  by  cylinders 
moved  by  clock-work.  When  the  vane  turns,  the  cylinder  brings 
a  particular  metallic  point  in  forcible  contact  with  the  paper,  act- 
ing by  a  principle  equivalent  to  the  lever. 

In  the  London  Philosophical  Transactions  for  1831,  p.  209,  a 
graphic  register  of  tides  and  winds  is  described  by  Henry  R.  Palm- 
er. In  this  a  cylinder  revolves  by  clock-work  carrying  a  filet 
of  paper  ;  a  metallic  pen-point  is  moved  over  this  cylinder  in  the 
direction  of  its  axis  by  a  rack  and  pinion,  moved  by  a  tide-float. 
The  track  of  the  pen-point  on  the  paper  records  the  change  in  the 
tide. 

The  connection  of  the  graphic  register  with  the  electric  tele- 
graph was  made  and  published  by  Steinheil,  in  Germany,  before 
the  date  of  the  caveat  of  Mr.  Morse,  of  October,  1837.  In  the 
paper  of  Steinheil,  included  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences,  of  the  10th  of  September,  1838,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Comptes  Rendus  of  1838,  he  described  the  results  of 
the  practical  operation  of  his  graphic  telegraph,  for  more  than  a 
year,  between  Munich  and  Bogenhausen,  and  the  19th  of  July, 
1837,  is  referred  to  by  him  as  an  historical  date,  on  or  before  which 
his  telegraph  was  in  actual  operation  and  public  use.  In  an 
article  by  Steinheil,  translated  in  Sturgeon's  Annals  of  Electricity 
for  March  and  April,  1839,  the  use  of  posts  for  insulation,  of  what 
is  technically  called  the  ground  circuit,  and  of  iron,  instead  of 
copper,  wires  for  conductors, — facts  or  inventions  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  practical  operation  of  the  telegraph,  —  is  fully 
described.  "We  consider  Steinheil,  together  with  Gauss  and 
Weber,  who  erected  their  telegraph  at  Gottingen,  in  1833-34, 
as  the  scientific  explorers  for  the  electric  telegraph,  to  whom  the 
most  important  part  of  its  practical  application  is  undoubtedly 


412  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

due.  The  telegraph  of  Steinheil  registers  serial  dots,  or,  more 
strictly,  short  lines,  by  a  point  brought  into  contact  with  a  mov- 
ing fillet  of  paper  by  the  action  of  a  lever,  operated  by  the  de- 
flection of  a  magnetic  bar  or  bars  in  a  coil  of  wire. 

8.  Lever  and   Steel  Point  or   Pen.  —  Silliman's    Journal   of 
Science,  Vol.  XIX.,  1831,  contains  an  illustration  and  descrip- 
tion of  Professor  Henry's  powerful  electro-magnetic  weigher,  — 
with  armature  and  lever ,  —  the  lever  sustaining  two  thousand 
pounds. 

Cooke  and  Wheatstone,  in  their  patent  of  June  12,  1836,  de- 
scribe the  use  of  the  lever  in  connection  with  the  armature  of  an 
electro-magnet.  This  is  prior  to  the  filing  of  Morse's  caveat,  and 
three  years  before  he  obtained  his  first  patent  in  this  country. 

The  steel  point  is  fully  described  by  M.  D'Ons  en  Bray,  in 
connection  with  the  anemometer,  in  1734;  and  in  the  graphic 
register  of  Henry  R.  Palmer,  in  1831. 

9.  Alphabet  of  Dots  and  Lines.  —  The  alphabet  of  dots  and 
lines  is  the  same  in  principle  as  that  adopted  by  Steinheil,  in 
1836,  and  in  the  earlier  descriptions  of  the  Morse  apparatus  the 
combination  by  the  use  of  several  pens  is  very  similar  to  those 
of  Steinheil. 

The  same  system  was  also  used  by  Harrison  Gray  Dyar,  in 
1828,  in  his  telegraph  upon  Long  Island. 

10.  Local   Circuit  for   obtaining  Increase    of  Power.  —  The 
local  circuit  was  used  by  Cooke  and  Wheatstone,  and  patented  in 
connection  with  their  system  of  telegraphing,  June  12,  1837.     In 
order  that  the  telegraph  might  be  practically  used,  it  was  essen- 
tial that  some  simple  means  should  be  employed  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  operator  when  a  message  was  about  to  be  sent,  as  the 
movement  of  the  needles  made  no  sound.     To  overcome  the  dif- 
ficulty presented  by  the  very  small  amount  of  power  which  would 
be  transmitted  to  a  long  distance,  and  which  was  not  sufficient  to 

„  make  an  electro-magnet  of  any  power,  and  thus  discharge  an 
alarum,  they  placed  a  second  battery  at  the  distant  station,  hav- 
ing wires  connected  with  a  powerful  electro-magnet  attached  to 
an  alarum,  or  arranged  so  as  to  strike  a  bell  as  soon  as  the  bat- 
tery was  brought  into  operation.  But  as  the  circuit  was  broken, 


MORSE'S   MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  413 

the  battery,  though  charged  with  acid,  and  therefore  ready  to  act, 
could  not  exert  its  magnetizing  power  on  the  electro-magnet 
unless  the  circuit  was  completed.  The  current  of  electricity 
from  the  distant  station  whence  the  intelligence  was  to  be  trans- 
mitted, though  not  powerful  enough  to  make  an  electro-magnet, 
was  abundantly  powerful  enough  to  complete  the  circuit  of  the 
second  battery,  thus  waiting  to  be  called  into  action.  This  was 
effected  by  a  small  piece  of  copper  wire  attached  to  a  cross-piece, 
fastened  to  a  delicately  suspended  vertical  galvanometer ;  when 
the  latter  was  deflected  by  even  a  feeble  electric  current,  the 
copper  wire,  by  having  its  ends  plunged  into  two  cups  of  mer- 
cury, completed  the  circuit  of  the  secondary  battery,  causing  the 
electro-magnet  to  attract  its  keeper,  and  thus  let  off  the  alarum  to 
ring  the  bell. 

In  a  deposition  by  Professor  Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, made  m  Washington  in  1850,  he  says  :  — 

"  In  February,  1837,  I  went  to  Europe,  and  early  in  April  of 
that  year,  Professor  Wheatstone  of  London,  in  the  course  of  a 
visit  to  him  at  King's  College,  London,  with  Professor  Bache, 
now  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  explained  to  us  his  plan 
of  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  among  other  things  exhibited 
to  us  his  method  of  bringing  into  action  a  second  galvanic  circuit. 
This  consisted  in  closing  the  second  circuit  by  the  deflection  of  a 
magnetic  needle,  so  placed  that  the  two  ends  of  the  wire  of  the 
open  circuit,  projecting  upwards,  would  be  united  by  the  contact 
of  the  ends  of  the  needle,  when  deflected.  The  second  circuit 
was  opened  by  interrupting  the  current  in  the  first  circuit,  the 
needle  resuming  its  original  position,  due  to  the  directive  force 
of  the  magnetism  of  the  earth  (Fig.  96).  I  informed  him  that  I 
had  devised  another  method  of  producing  effects  somewhat  simi- 
lar. This  consisted  in  opening  the  circuit  of  my  large  quantity 
magnet  at  Princeton,  when  loaded  with  several  hundred  pounds, 
by  attracting  upwards  a  small  piece  of  movable  wire  by  means  of 
a  small  intensity  magnet,  connected  with  a  long  wire  circuit  and 
an  intensity  battery.  When  the  current  of  the  large  battery  was 
thus  broken  by  an  action  from  a  distance,  the  weight  would  fall, 
and  great  mechanical  effects  would  be  produced,  —  such  as  the 
35* 


414  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

ringing  of  church-bells  at  the  distance  of  many  miles,  an  illustra- 
tion which  I  had  previously  given  to  my  class.  My  impression 
is  strong,  that  I  had  explained  this  precise  process  to  my  class 
before  I  went  to  Europe  ;  but  on  this  point  I  cannot  speak  posi- 
tively. I  am,  however,  certain  of  having  mentioned,  in  course  of 
my  lectures,  every  year  previously  at  Princeton,  the  project  of 


Fig.  96. 

ringing  bells  at  a  distance  by  the  use  of  the  electro-magnet,  and 
of  having  frequently  illustrated  the  principle  to  my  class,  by 
causing,  in  some  cases,  a  thousand  pounds  to  fall  a  few  inches  on 
the  floor,  by  merely  lifting  a  piece  of  wire  from  two  cups  of  mer- 
cury, closing  the  circuit. 

"  The  object  of  Professor  Wheatstone,  as  I  understood  it,  in 
bringing  into  action  a  second  circuit,  was  to  provide  a  remedy 
for  the  diminution  of  force  in  a  long  circuit.  My  object,  in  the 
process  I  have  described,  was  to  bring  into  operation  a  large 
quantity  magnet,  connected  with  a  quantity  battery  in  a  local 
circuit,  by  means  of  a  small  intensity  magnet  and  an  intensity 
battery  at  a  distance. 

"  The  only  other  scientific  facts  of  importance  to  the  practical 
operation  of  the  telegraph,  not  already  mentioned,  are  the  con- 
struction of  the  constant  battery,  in  1836,  or  about  that  time,  by 
Professor  Daniell  of  King's  College,  London,  and  the  discovery, 
in  1837,  of  Steinheilj  in  Germany,  of  using  the  earth  as  a  portion 
of  the  galvanic  circuit.  I  believe  that  I  was  the  first  to  repeat  the 


MORSE'S   MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  415 

experiments  of  Daniell  and  Steinheil  in  this  country.  I  stretched 
a  wire  from  my  study  to  my  laboratory,  through  a  distance  in  the 
air  of  several  hundred  yards,  and  used  the  earth  as  a  return  con- 
ductor, with  a  very  minute  battery,  the  negative  element  of 
which  was  a  common  pin,  such  as  is  used  in  dress,  and  the  posi- 
tive element  the  point  of  a  zinc  wire  immersed  in  a  single  drop 
of  acid.  With  this  arrangement,  a  needle  was  deflected  in  my 
laboratory  before  my  class.  I  afterwards  transmitted  currents  in 
various  directions  through  the  College  grounds  at  Princeton. 
The  exact  date  of  these  experiments  I  am  unable  to  give,  with- 
out reference  to  my  notes.  They  were  previous,  however,  to  the 
unsuccessful  attempt  of  Mr.  Morse  to  transmit  currents  of  elec- 
tricity through  wires  buried  in  the  earth,  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore,  and  before  he  attempted  to  use  the  earth  as  a  part  of 
the  circuit.  Previous  to  this  time,  and  after  the  above-mentioned 
experiment,  Mr.  Morse  visited  me  at  Princeton,  to  consult  me  on 
the  arrangements  of  his  conductors.  During  this  visit,  we  con- 
versed freely  on  the  subject  of  insulation  and  conduction  of  wires. 
I  urged  him  to  put  his  wires  on  poles,  and  stated  to  him  my  ex- 
periments and  their  results. 

"  I  heard  nothing  of  the  secondary  circuit  as  a  part  of  Mr. 
Morse's  plan  until  after  his  return  from  Europe,  whither  he  went 
in  1838.  It  was  not  until  after  this  that  Mr.  Morse  used  the 
earth  as  a  part  of  the  circuit,  in  accordance  with  the  discovery  of 
Steinheil. 

"  I  am  not  aware  that  Mr.  Morse  has  ever  made  a  single  origi- 
nal discovery  in  electricity,  magnetism,  or  electro-magnetism, 
applicable  to  the  invention  of  the  telegraph.  I  have  always 
considered  his  merit  to  consist  in  combining  and  applying  the 
discoveries  of  others  in  the  invention  of  a  particular  instrument 
and  process  for  telegraphic  purposes.  I  have  no  means  of  deter- 
mining how  far  this  invention  is  original  with  himself,  or  how 
much  is  due  to  those  associated  with  him. 

"  Shortly  after  my  return  from  Europe,  in  the  autumn  of  1837, 
I  learned  that  Mr.  Morse  was  about  to  petition  Congress  for  as- 
sistance in  constructing  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  Some  of 
my  friends  in  Princeton,  knowing  what  I  had  done  in  developing 


416  EARLY   DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

the  principles  of  the  telegraph,  urged  me  to  make  the  representa- 
tion to  Congress,  which  I  had  expressed  some  thoughts  of  doing, 
namely,  that  the  principles  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  be- 
long to  the  science  of  the  world,  and  that  any  appropriation  which 
might  be  made  by  Congress  should  be  as  a  premium  for  the  best 
plan,  and  the  means  of  testing  the  same,  which  the  ingenuity  of 
the  country  might  offer. 

"  Shortly  after  this,  I  visited  New  York,  and  there  accidentally 
made  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Morse.  He  appeared  to 
be  an  unassuming  and  prepossessing  gentlemen,  with  very  little 
knowledge  of  the  general  principles  of  electricity,  magnetism,  or 
electro-magnetism.  He  made  no  claims,  in  conversation  with  me, 
to  any  scientific  discoveries,  or  to  anything  beyond  his  particular 
machine  and  process  of  applying  known  principles  to  telegraphic 
purposes.  He  explained  to  me  his  plan  of  a  telegraph,  with 
which  he  had  recently  made  a  successful  experiment.  I  thought 
this  plan  better  than  any  with  which  I  had  been  made  acquainted 
in  Europe.  I  became  interested  in  him,  and,  instead  of  in- 
terfering with  his  application  to  Congress,  I  gave  him  a  cer- 
tificate, in  the  form  of  a  letter,  stating  my  confidence  in  the 
practicability  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  my  belief 
that  the  form  proposed  by  himself  was  the  best  that  had  been 
published. 

"  In  1837,  Professor  Gale  and  Dr.  Fisher  were  the  scientific 
assistants  of  Mr.  Morse  in  preparing  the  telegraph.  Mr.  Vail 
was  also  employed.  I  had  been  intimately  acquainted  with 
Professor  Gale  for  many  years.  He  had  been  a  pupil  in  chem- 
istry of  my  friend  Dr.  Torrey,  and  had  studied  my  papers  on 
electro-magnetism,  and,  as  he  informed  me,  had  applied  them  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  apparatus  for  the  construction  of  Morse's 
telegraph. 

"  About  the  beginning  of  1848,  Mr.  Walker,  Astronomical  As- 
sistant of  the  Coast  Survey,  iri  a  report  on  the  application  of  the 
telegraph  to  the  determination  of  differences  of  longitude,  alluded 
to  my  researches.  A  copy  of  this  was  sent  to  Mr.  Morse,  which 
led  to  an  interview  between  Mr.  Walker,  Professor  Gale,  Mr. 
Morse,  and  myself.  At  this  meeting,  which  took  place  at  my 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH.  417 

office  in  Washington,  Mr.  Morse  stated  that  he  had  not  known, 
until  reading  my  paper,  in  January,  1847,  that  I  had,  two  years 
before  his  conception  in  1832,  settled  the  point  of  the  practicability 
of  the  telegraph,  and  shown  how  mechanical  effects  could  be  pro- 
duced at  a  distance,  both  in  the  deflection  of  a  needle  and  in  the 
action  of  an  electro-magnet ;  that  he  did  not  know  at  the  time  of 
his  experiments,  in  1837,  that  there  had  been  any  doubt  of  the 
action  of  a  current  at  a  distance,  and  that,  in  the  confidence  of 
the  persuasion  that  the  effect  could  be  produced,  he  had  devised 
the  proper  apparatus  by  which  his  telegraph  was  put  in  opera- 
tion. Professor  Gale,  being  then  referred  to,  stated  that  Mr. 
Morse  had  forgotten  the  precise  state  of  the  case ;  that  Mr. 
Morse,  previous  to  his  (Dr.  Gale's)  connection  with  him,  had  not 
succeeded  in  producing  effects  at  a  distance ;  that  when  he  was 
first  called  in,  he  found  Mr.  Morse  attempting  to  make  an  electro- 
magnet act  through  a  circuit  of  a  few  yards  of  copper  wire,  sus- 
pended around  the  room,  in  the  University  of  New  York,  and 
that  he  could  not  succeed  in  producing  the  desired  effect,  even  in 
this  short  circuit ;  that  he  (Dr.  Gale)  asked  him  if  he  had 
studied  Professor  Henry's  paper  on  the  subject,  and  that  the 
answer  was,  *  No ' ;  that  he  then  informed  Mr.  Morse  that  he 
would  find  the  principles  necessary  to  success  explained  in  that 
paper ;  that  instead  of  a  battery  of  a  single  element,  he  should 
employ  one  of  a  number  of  pairs,  and  that  instead  of  the  magnet 
with  a  short  wire,  he  should  use  one  with  a  long  coil.  Doctor 
Gale  further  stated,  that  his  apparatus  was  in  the  same  building, 
and,  having  apparatus  of  the  kind  he  had  mentioned,  he  procured 
them,  and  that  with  these  the  action  was  produced  through  a 
circuit  of  half  a  mile.  To  this  statement  Mr.  Morse  made  no 
reply." 

Edward  Davy's  telegraph  was  patented  July  4, 1838.  The  re- 
ceiving instrument,  or  commutator,  used  by  Davy,  is  in  principle 
the  same  with  that  of  Cooke  and  Wheatstone.  It  is  a  horizontal 
galvanometer,  upon  the  magnetic  bar  or  needle  of  which,  at  right 
angles,  is  placed  a  metallic  cross-piece,  one  extremity  of  which 
comes  in  contact  with  a  wire  or  conductor  when  the  needle  is 
deflected,  and  the  other  extremity  of  which  is  bent  down  so  as  to 

A  A 


418  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

dip  constantly  into  a  cup  of  mercury.  When  this  cross-piece 
comes  in  contact  with  the  conductor,  it  completes  the  circuit  of  a 
local  battery  by  effecting  a  connection  between  the  conductor  and 
the  cup  of  mercury.  This  receiving  instrument  is  employed  to 
bring  into  action  a  local  circuit,  first,  for  the  purpose  of  register- 
ing marks  by  means  of  galvanic  decomposition.  The  registering 
apparatus  is  composed  essentially  as  follows.  The  fabric  used 
for  receiving  the  marks  is  calico  or  cotton  cloth,  a  strip  of  which 
passes  between  two  cylinders.  One  of  the  cylinders  is  of  metal, 
connected  with  the  negative  pole  of  the  battery.  The  other  cyl- 
inder is  of  wood,  having  upon  it  six  rings  of  platina,  the  thin 
edges  of  which  press  the  cotton  against  the  first,  or  metallic 
cylinder.  These  rings,  when  brought  into  use,  are  connected 
with  the  positive  pole  of  the  battery.  The  current  from  the  rings 
to  the  metallic  cylinder  passes  necessarily  through  the  chemically- 
prepared  cotton  cloth  at  the  point  of  contact.  The  result  is  the 
production  of  a  mark  whenever  the  current  is  made  to  communi- 
cate with  one  of  the  rings.  The  marks  made  by  the  different 
rings  have  different  signification. 

The  local  circuit  is  employed,  in  the  second  place,  to  regulate 
the  motion  of  the  clock-work  carrying  the  cloth,  by  means  of  a 
U  electro-magnet,  armature,  and  lever,  which  at  each  motion 
withdraws  the  stop  from  a  fly-wheel  for  the  space  of  a  semi-rev- 
olution, during  which  a  single  sign  is  made  upon  the  calico.  The 
stop  is  thus  removed  from  the  fly-wheel  by  the  first  impulse  of 
the  current,  allowing  the  clock-work  to  move  always  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  signs  transmitted. 

The  receiving  instrument  is  employed,  in  the  third  place,  to 
effect  the  relay  of  long  circuits,  —  an  exhausted  current  from  a 
distance  opening  a  new  and  fresh  telegraph  circuit  in  advance. 

The  principle  of  the  local  circuit  is  employed,  in  the  fourth 
place,  by  means  of  a  peculiar  mechanism,  consisting  in  part  of 
two  U  electro-magnets,  with  a  reciprocating  armature  to  direct 
the  long  circuit  to  either  of  two  branches  of  the  telegraph  line, 
the  receiving  instrument  being  placed  at  the  juncture  of  the  two 
branches,  and  being  operated  upon  from  a  distant  station. 

Mr.  Morse  patented  the  relay  for  long  circuits,  June  20,  1840, 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  419 

—  two  years  after  Davy's  patent  for  the  same  in  England ;  and 
for  a  short,  or  local  circuit,  April  11,1846, — just  nine  years 
after  Messrs.  Cooke  and  Wheatstone's  patent  for  the  same  in 
England,  and  nine  years  after  Professor  Henry's  discovery  in 
this  country. 

Mr.  Morse  composed  a  description  of  his  invention,  and  ex- 
hibited the  instrument  in  operation  to  the  French  Academy  of 
Science  at  their  session  of  the  10th  of  September,  1838,  and  it 
was  published  in  the  weekly  journal  of  the  Academy,  called  the 
Comptes  Rendus,  a  few  days  after.  That  description,  however, 
did  not  include  the  office,  or  local  circuit,  or  receiving  magnet,  the 
utility  of  which,  Mr.  Morse  says  hi  his  patent  of  1846,  was  at 
that  time  unknown. 

11.  Adaptation  of  the  Sounds  produced  in  making  Dots  and 
Lines  to  Audible  Telegraphy.  —  Reading  by  sound,  so  far  as  the 
Morse  telegraph  is  concerned,  was  purely  an  afterthought,  taken 
up  by  the  operators  of  their  own  accord.  It  was  found  desirable 
to  have  a  means  of  calling  the  attention  of  the  operator  by  audible 
signals,  and  it  was  designed  at  first  to  have  an  alarum,  consisting 
of  a  bell,  to  be  rung  by  clock-work,  similar  to  that  of  Cooke  and 
Wheatstone,  and  the  first  instruments  were  so  constructed  ;  but  it 
was  soon  ascertained  that  the  click  of  the  armature  was  suf- 
ficient, and  the  bell  dispensed  with.  We  have  explained  elsewhere 
the  inauguration  of  the  system  of  reading  by  sound,  and  its  great 
results  :  the  credit  of  introducing,  as  well  as  the  discovery,  as  far 
as  telegraphing  goes,  is  due  entirely  to  the  American  operators. 
It  was  discovered  by  them,  and  adopted  by  them,  notwithstand- 
ing great  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  managers  of  the  lines. 

Soemmering,  in  1809,  rung  a  bell  by  electricity,  in  connection 
with  his  decomposing  telegraph.  Ronalds,  in  1816,  fired  a  pistol 
by  the  spark.  Franklin  set  spirits  on  fire  across  the  Schuylkill, 
by  means  of  an  insulated  wire  and  the  electric  spark ;  and  Gauss 
and  Weber  produced  sounds  by  means  of  magnetic  needles,  in 
connection  with  their  telegraph,  in  1834. 

But  one  of  the  most  curious  instances  in  proof  of  the  correct- 
ness of  the  adage  that  there  is  "  nothing  new  under  the  sun,"  is 
found  in  a  little  book  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Wm.  F.  Channing, 


420  EARLY   DISCOVERIES  W  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

called,  "  The  Mural  Diagraph,  or  the  Art  of  Conversing  through 
a  Wall,  by  James  Swaim,"  published  at  Philadelphia,  in  1829. 
This  book  describes  an  alphabet  of  what  may  be  called  audible 
dots  and  lines,  intended  for  communicating  through  a  wall.  This 
alphabet  is  also  written  in  dots  and  lines,  and  a  vocabulary  is 
given  at  the  end  of  the  book,  consisting  of  words  referred  to  by 
numbers.  The  combination  of  dots  and  lines  in  a  conversation 
given  in  pages  eleven  and  twelve  resemble  obviously  the  system 
used  by  Mr.  Morse,  as  represented  in  example  first,  attached  to 
his  patent.  When  applied  to  its  use,  the  dots  of  the  Mural  alpha- 
bet are  represented  by  knocks  on  the  wall,  and  the  lines  by  scratches  ; 
some  hard  substance  being  used  to  produce  the  sounds. 

Lines  of  variable  length  are  the  simple  geometric  expression 
of  force.  The  dot  is  the  simplest  geometric  representation  of  a 
momentary  or  short  exertion  of  the  force  employed,  which  in  this 
case  is  electricity.  The  line  is  the  simplest  geometric  expression 
of  a  longer  exertion  of  the  same  force,  and  the  space  is  only  the 
interval  between  the  exertions  of  force,  by  which  succession  and 
number  of  signs  become  possible. 

Duration  and  number,  thus  applied  to  the  electric  current, 
appear  to  be  the  essential  conditions  of  electric  telegraph  signal- 
izing, and  to  involve,  as  the  geometric  expression,  lines  and  inter- 
vals of  variable  length.  We  are  thus  conducted  at  once,  as  soon 
as  such  linear  signs  are  transmitted  by  an  act  of  intelligence,  the 
representative  of  alphabetical  letters,  to  the  old  geometric  alpha- 
bet of  dots  and  lines,  which  has  been  already  described. 

The  use  of  the  graphic  register  in  connection  with  the  electric 
telegraph  appears,  therefore,  to  indicate  nothing  more  than  the 
simplest  geometric  record  of  the  electric  force,  as  modulated  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  duration  and  succession.  The 
registration  of  the  natural  expression  of  force  seems  to  be  hardly 
separable  from  the  principle  of  registration  itself.  The  linear 
representation  of  force  is  also  the  very  function  and  purpose  of 
the  graphic  register. 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  421 

WOODBURY'S   DECISION  UPON  MORSE'S  CLAIMS. 

The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  decision  of  Hon.  Levi 
Woodbury,  Judge  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  upon  the 
prayer  for  injunction  by  the  Morse  patentees  against  the  House 
Telegraph  Company  in  1850. 

The  public  mind,  among  the  scientific  and  machinists,  had  be- 
come so  excited  on  the  topic  of  the  electric  telegraph,  four  years 
previously  to  1832,  the  period  of  the  voyage  in  the  Sully,  that 
numerous  attempts  were  made  in  1828  to  carry  out  into  more 
practical  use,  and  to  perfect,  what  had  been  before  indicated  so 
often  and  so  distinctly,  as  to  the  use  of  electricity  and  electro- 
magnetism  for  the  purpose  of  telegraphing.  Jacob  Green  wrote 
on  it.  Travoilot  proposed  to  act  by  a  wire  from  Paris  to  Brus- 
sels, and  Sturgeon  actually  constructed,  at  Woolwich,  an  appar- 
atus with  a  horse-shoe  magnet,  and  the  end  of  a  wire  coiled  round 
it,  communicating  with  the  opposite  poles  of  a  galvanic  machine, 
and  thus  supporting  a  weight,  or  bar,  of  nine  pounds. 

It  is  believed  that  Professor  Henry  had  discovered  and  described 
as  early  as  this,  and  shown  at  Albany,  in  1829,  how  to  increase 
the  power  at  little  expense ;  and  Fechner  suggested  that  galvan- 
ism could  thus  be  applied  to  telegraph  from  Leipsic  to  Dresden. 

But  the  most  surprising  discovery  on  this  subject  about  this 
period  was  by  Harrison  Gray  Dyar,  another  enterprising  Amer- 
ican. In  1827  or  1828,  he  is  proved,  by  Cornwell,  to  have  con- 
structed a  telegraph  at  Long  Island,  at  the  race-course,  by  wires 
on  poles,  and  using  glass  insulators.  Doctor  Bell  fortifies  this 
statement,  having  seen  some  of  his  wires,  and  understood  its  op- 
eration to  be  by  a  spark  sent  from  one  end  to  the  other,  which 
made  a  mark  on  paper,  prepared  by  some  chemical  salts. 

Dyar's  own  deposition,  taken  since  this  cause  was  argued,  and 
to  be  substituted  for  a  letter  from  him  to  Dr.  Bell,  which  was 
then  objected  to  by  the  plaintiff,  and  ruled  out,  now  verifies  the 
truth  of  the  letter,  and  goes  into  several  details  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  his  invention,  when  abandoned,  in  1830,  from  fears  of 
prosecution  by  some  of  his  agents. 

He  used  common  electricity,  and  not  electro-magnetism,  and 
36 


422  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

but  one  wire,  which  operated  by  a  spark,  which,  after  going 
through  paper  chemically  prepared,  so  as  to  leave  a  red  mark 
on  it,  passed  into  the  ground,  without  a  return  circuit.  The  dif- 
ference of  time  between  the  sparks  served,  by  means  of  an  arbi- 
trary alphabet,  to  signify  different  letters,  and  the  paper  was  to 
be  moved  by  the  hand  while  the  telegraph  operated,  though  ma- 
chinery was  contemplated  to  be  introduced  for  that  purpose. 
This  device  of  an  alphabet  by  spaces  of  time  between  sparks 
evinced  remarkable  ingenuity,  and  differs  in  some  degree  from 
Morse's,  though  very  near  it  in  principle. 

In  1830,  Booth,  in  Dublin,  explained  fully  how  electro-magnet- 
ism could  be  used  to  telegraph  at  a  distance,  and  cause  marks  to 
be  made  by  the  fall  of  the  armature  from  the  horse-shoe  magnet 
when  the  circuit  was  broken. 

But  Barlow  had  failed  in  England  from  want  of  more  power ; 
and  following  out  the  new  idea  of  increasing  the  power  of  the 
magnet  by  closer  coils  of  wire  and  otherwise,  and  when  the  want 
of  greater  power  to  operate  farther  and  quicker,  and  at  less  ex- 
pense, seemed  the  chief  desideratum,  Moll,  in  1830,  succeeded  in 
making  a  magnet  which  would  sustain  75  pounds,  and,  soon  after, 
one  that  sustained  150  pounds,  and  Professor  Henry,  in  1831, 
completed  one  that  could  sustain  a  ton  (Fig.  97).  During  this 
last  year,  also,  Faraday  had  matured  fully  the  horse-shoe  magnet, 
and  caused,  under  Saxton,  at  a  distance,  a  strong  circular  motion, 
and  brought  magnetic  electricity  almost  to  maturity. 

While  all  these  clearly  preceded  what  took  place  in  the  Sully, 
and  remove  very  much  all  novelty  in  some  of  the  ideas  then 
suggested,  yet  it  is  certain  that  there  yet  remained  to  be  con- 
structed, on  these  or  other  principles,  some  practical  machine  for 
popular  and  commercial  use,  which  would  communicate  to  a  dis- 
tance by  electro-magnetism,  and  record  quickly  and  cheaply  what 
was  thus  communicated. 

From  that  time  forward,  Morse  is  entitled  to  the  high  credit 
of  making  attempts  to  do  this,  however  imperfectly  informed  he 
may  then  have  been  of  what  had   already  been   accomplished 
towards  it ;  and  he  has  the  still  higher  credit,  among  the  experi-  * 
rnenters  from  that  time  to  1837,  of  having  then  succeeded  in  per- 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH.  423 

fecting  what  he  describes  at  that  time  in  his  caveat  and  specifi- 
cation.    Laboring  on  the  same  subject,  and  before  1838,  Stur- 


i'ig.  97. 

geon,  in  1832,  had  formed  a  rotary  electro-magnetic  machine, 
which  gave  motion  to  working  models  of  machinery  so  as  to 
pump  water,  saw  wood,  and  draw  weights.  He  had  batteries  of 
zinc,  and  electric  currents  from  them,  and  magnets  with  attraction 
and  repulsion.  And  Baron  de  Schilling,  the  same  year  or  the 
next,  constructed  an  electric  telegraph  at  St.  Petersburg,  which 
had  thirty-six  magnetic  needles,  and  sounded  alarms,  and  made 
signals  by  the  deflection  of  the  needle,  which  indicated  letters  by 
numbers. 

In  1833,  Dr.  Sculther,  at  Zurich,  caused  a  pendulum  motion 
between  two  horse-shoe  magnets,  and  Ritchie,  with  various  oth- 
ers, showed  how  increased  power  could  be  cheaply  created  and 
used  at  a  distance.  And  Professor  Henry  made  experiments  for 


424  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

this  object  with  success,  and  explained  that  the  fall  of  the  weight 
or  armature  would  ring  bells,  &c. 

Gauss  and  Weber  constructed  the  first  magnetic  telegraph  at 
Gottingen  the  same  year,  carrying  the  wires  above  ground  and 
over  houses,  and  making  signs  for  letters.  Some  of  their  wires 
are  still  standing.  And  in  1834  Jacobi  made  one  similar  in  some 
respects.  And  Mr.  Gurly,  at  Dublin,  made  another,  and  in 
1836  Taquin  and  Eutychaussen  carried  another  over  the  streets 
of  Vienna.  All  which  remained  to  complete  what  was  desirable 
in  a  tracing  or  writing  telegraph  at  a  distance,  was  to  make  dots 
or  marks  intelligible  or  significant  of  letters  and  words,  so  as  to 
be  read  or  translated  with  ease,  and  to  perform  the  operation  with 
useful  speed. 

To  make  colored  dots,  by  means  of  chemically  prepared  paper, 
had  already  been  discovered,  but  not  an  alphabet  in  connection, 
unless  by  Dyar  in  1828 ;  nor  a  movement  of  the  paper  on  a 
roller,  so  as  to  make  the  dots  and  marks  successive,  unless  by  him 
with  the  hand.  The  struggle  was  such,  in  1837,  to  finish  what 
was  wanted,  that  Morse  became  alarmed  lest  others  might  first 
complete  and  obtain  patents  for  the  invention,  and  hence  proceeded 
more  actively  with  his ;  and  in  1837  filed  his  caveat,  in  the  month 
of  October.  In  the  same  year,  whether  earlier  or  later  is  not 
known,  Alexander  formed  an  electric  telegraph,  by  which,  through 
signals  somewhat  like  Morse's,  he  communicated  and  spelled  out 
at  a  distance  the  word  Victoria.  There  is  also  evidence  that  this 
was  done  earlier,  using  a  key-board,  and  letters  on  each  key,  like 
House's.  Davenport,  too,  in  Vermont,  announced  another,  and 
obtained  a  patent  in  1838.  Cooke  and  Wheatstone  took  out  a 
patent  for  theirs  in  June,  1837,  making  the  deflection  of  the 
needle  point  to  letters  on  a  board. 

Steinheil,  that  year,  had  at  the  Royal  Observatory  an  electro- 
magnetic telegraph,  half  a  mile  long,  on  poles.  This  made  dots 
and  short  marks  on  paper,  and  preceded  Morse's  caveat,  according 
to  Dr.  Channing's  evidence  and  that  of  Hibbard  (being  before 
July  19,  1837),  and  also  that  of  Gould. 

It  used  the  ground  as  a  part  of  the  circuit,  which  use  had  been 
before  discovered,  but  to  which  Morse  does  not  appear  to  describe 
a  claim,  till  his  first  renewal  in  1848. 


MORSE'S  MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH.  425 

Nor  did  Morse  use  poles  or  posts  at  first,  in  1844,  when 
constructing  a  telegraph  between  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
Though  they  were  used  by  Steinheil  before  1839,  and  by  Dyar, 
even  in  1828 ;  and  were  suggested  to  Morse,  as  early  as  1830, 
by  Professor  Henry ;  yet  Morse  thinks  he  himself  invented  them. 
After  all  this,  there  still  was  wanting  a  more  perfect  succession 
of  marks  to  be  made  or  recorded,  which  were  letters  themselves, 
or  signs  of  letters,  intelligible  by  an  alphabet  and  power  obtained 
and  applied  so  as  to  do  it  quick  enough  for  purposes  of  business. 
This  deficiency  was  at  length  supplied. 

Among  about  sixty-two  competitors  to  the  discovery  of  the  electric 
telegraph  up  to  1838,  Morse  alone,  in  1837,  seemed  to  have 
reached  the  most  perfect  result  desirable  for  public  and  practical 
use.  This  may  not  have  been  accomplished  so  wholly  by  the 
invention  of  much  that  was  entirely  new,  as  by  "  improvements,"  to 
use  the  language  of  his  patent,  on  what  had  already  been  done 
on  the  same  subject,  improvements  ingenious,  useful,  and  valu- 
able. By  the  needle,  or  lever  instead,  not  only  deflected  by  the 
magnet,  but  provided  with  a  pen  to  write,  or,  in  other  words,  a 
pin  at  the  end  to  make  a  dot  or  stroke  when  thus  deflected  as 
the  circuit  was  held  longer  closed  or  broken,  with  machinery  to 
keep  the  paper  moving  in  the  mean  time,  and  so  as  to  inscribe 
the  dots  and  lines  separately,  and  more  especially  with  an  alpha- 
bet, invented  and  matured,  assigning  letters  and  figures  to  these 
dots  and  lines  according  to  their  number  and  combination,  he 
accomplished  the  great  desideratum.  Thus  the  fortunate  idea 
was  at  last  formed  and  announced,  which  enabled  the  dead 
machine  to  move  and  speak  intelligibly,  at  any  distance,  with 
lightning  speed. 

It  will  be  seen  that,  amidst  all  these  efforts  at  telegraphic  com- 
munication by  means  of  electricity  and  electro-magnetism,  more 
or  less  successful  from  1745  to  1838,  none  had  attained  fully  to 
what  Morse  accomplished. 

Some  had  succeeded  in  sending  information  by  signals,  even 

beyond  the  decomposition  of  water  and  the  declivity  of  the  needle. 

They  had  made  persons  at  a  distance  recognize  the  sign  used, 

and  thus  obtain  intelligence.     They  had  also  made  marks  at  a 

36* 


426  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

distance.  But  in  no  way  does  it  appear  that  they  have  sent 
information  at  a  distance,  and  at  the  same  moment,  by  the  same 
machine,  traced  down  and  recorded  it  permanently  and  intelli- 
gibly and  quickly.  This  triumph  was  reserved  to  Morse's  inflex- 
ible perseverance  in  experiments,  and  close  observation  ;  and 
chiefly  after  arming  the  end  of  the  needle  or  lever  with  a  pin,  by 
use  of  a  roller  with  appropriate  machinery  to  move  his  paper,  so 
as  to  trace  successive  dots  and  marks,  and  by  a  stenographic 
alphabet  to  explain  the  marks  made  on  the  paper,  and,  by  more 
power  through  his  combined  circuits,  to  effect  all  at  a  greater 
distance,  and  with  greater  despatch.  Afterwards  by  the  improve- 
ments in  batteries  by  Daniell  and  Grove,  in  1843,  he  was  en- 
abled, without  these  local  circuits,  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
electro-magnet,  so  as  to  accomplish  this  at  any  distance,  and  with 
a  speed  and  economy  which  rendered  the  invention  applicable  to 
general  use.  Before  1843,  Hare's  battery  was  used,  and  was  too 
feeble,  and  before  that,  Cruikshank's.  The  want  of  this  increased 
power  had  rendered  former  attempts  at  times  abortive  for  prac- 
tical purposes ;  and  its  being  recently  supplied  by  the  science  of 
Faraday  and  Henry  tended  more  speedily,  by  Daniell  and  Grove's 
battery,  founded  on  them,  to  remove  the  greatest  obstacle  to  suc- 
cess. 

Others  had  before,  and  about  the  same  time,  as  has  been 
noticed  already,  made  marks  on  paper,  at  a  distance,  by  the  de- 
flection of  the  needle,  and  by  sparks,  and  attached  special  mean- 
ings to  them,  and  the  spaces  between  them.  But  the  evidence  is 
strong  that  Morse's,  if  not  the  very  first,  in  these  respects,  was 
the  most  perfect  and  available  for  practical  use,  and  the  improve- 
ments by  others  in  batteries  came  very  opportunely  to  aid  in  its 
power  for  distant  operations,  beyond  what  even  the  local  circuits 
had  done.  His  special  advance  beyond  others,  except  some 
new  combination,  looks  as  if  chiefly  mechanical,  but  still  it  suf- 
ficed to  promote  the  desired  object. 

DYAR'S  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

The  following  description  of  Mr.  Harrison  Gray  Dyar's  elec- 
tric telegraph  is  extracted  from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Dyar 


DYAR'S  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  427 

to  Dr.   Luther   V.   Bell   of  Charlestown,   Mass.,   dated   Paris, 
1849 : — 

"  I  invented  a  plan  of  a  telegraph,  which  should  be  independ- 
ent of  day  or  night  or  weather,  which  should  extend  from  town 
to  town,  or  city  tD  city,  without  any  intermediary  agency,  by 
means  of  an  insulated  wire  in  the  air,  suspended  on  poles,  and 
through  which  wire  I  intended  to  send  strokes  of  electricity  in 
such  a  manner  as  that  the  diverse  distances  of  time  separating 
the  divers  sparks  should  represent  the  different  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  and  stops  between  the  words,  &c.,  &c.     This  absolute 
or  this  relative  difference  of  time  between  the  several  sparks,  I 
intended  to  take  off  from  an  electric  machine  by  a  little  mechan- 
ical contrivance  regulated  by  a  pendulum,  and  the  sparks  were 
intended  to  be  recorded  upon  a  moving  or  revolving  sheet  of 
moistened  litmus-paper,  which,  by  the  formation  of  nitric  acid  by 
the  spark  in  the  air,  in  its  passage  through  the  paper,  would  leave 
a  red  spot  for  each  spark  on  this  blue  test-paper.     These  so  pro- 
duced red  spots,  by  their  relative   interspaces  separating  them 
severally  from  each  other,  being  taken  as  an  equivalent  for  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  &c.,  &c.,  or  for  other  signs  intended  to  be 
transmitted,  whereby  a  correspondence  could  be  kept  up  through 
one  wire,  of  any  length,  either  in  one  direction,  or   back  and 
forwards,  simultaneously  or  successively,  at  pleasure.     In  addi- 
tion to  this  use  of  electricity,  I  considered  that  I  had,  if  wanted, 
an  auxiliary  resource  in  the  power  of  sending  impulses  along  the 
same  wire,  properly  suspended,  somewhat  like  the  action  of  a 
common  bell-wire  in  a  house.     Now  you  will  perceive  that  this 
plan  is  like  the  plan  known  as  Morse's  telegraph,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  his  plan  is  inferior  to  mine,  inasmuch  as  he  and  others 
now  make  use  of  the  electro-magnetic  action,  in  place  of  the  sim- 
ple spark,  which  requires  that  they  should,  in  order  to  get  dots  or 
marks  upon  paper,  make  use  of  mechanical  motions,  which  re- 
quire time  to  move,  whereas  my  dots  were  produced  by  chemical 
action  of  the  spark  itself,  and  would  be  from  that  cause  trans- 
mitted and  recorded  with  any  required  velocity,  only  preserving 
the  relative  distances  between  the   sparks,  which  is  a   decided 
superiority  over  the  use  of  motions  got  by  the  electro-magnetic 


428  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

motive  action.  Perhaps  Mr.  Morse  was  not  sufficiently  familiar 
with  electricity  to  know  of  this  faculty.  My  idea  is,  that  Mr. 
Morse,  when  returning  to  America,  as  you  mentioned,  got,  by  the 
conversation  with  Mr.  Jackson,  some  notion  about  carrying  elec- 
tricity along  a  wire,  which  enabled  him  to  understand  the  nature 
and  mode  of  operation  of  my  wire  telegraph,  which  he  must  have 
heard  his  brother-in-law  speak  of  as  a  wire  reaching  from  city  to 
city.  I  may  do  his  science  and  inventiveness  injustice,  but  you 
know  the  intimacy  between  Charles  and  myself,  and  the  presence 
and  relation  between  him  and  Mr.  Morse.  I  believe  that  Mr. 
Morse  is  not  known  to  be  an  inventor  or  a  man  of  science,  and 
for  such  reasons  not  likely  to  originate  such  a  project. 

"  In  reference  to  what  I  did  to  carry  out  my  invention,  I  asso- 
ciated myself  with  a  Mr.  Brown,  of  Providence,  who  gave  me 
certain  sums  of  money  to  become  associated  with  me  in  the  in- 
vention. We  employed  a  Mr.  Connel,  of  New  York,  to  aid  in 
getting  capital  wanted  to  carry  the  wires  to  Philadelphia ;  this 
we  considered  as  accomplished  ;  but,  before  beginning  upon  the 
long  wire,  it  was  decided  that  we  should  try  some  miles  of  it  on 
Long  Island.  Accordingly,  I  obtained  some  fine  card  wire,  in- 
tending to  run  it  several  times  around  the  race-course  on  the 
Island.  We  put  up  this  wire,  that  is,  Mr.  Brown  and  myself,  at 
different  lengths,  in  curves  and  straight  lines,  by  suspending  it 
from  stake  to  stake,  and  tree  to  tree,  until  we  concluded  that  our 
experiments  justified  our  undertaking  to  carry  it  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia.  At  this  moment  our  agent,  Mr.  Connel,  brought 
a  suit  or  summons  against  me  for  $  20,000,  for  agencies  and  ser- 
vices, which  I  found  was  done  to  extort  a  concession  of  a  share 
of  the  whole  project.  I  appeared  before  Judge  Irving,  who,  on 
hearing  my  statement,  dismissed  the  suit  as  groundless.  A  few 
days  after  this,  Joseph  F.  White,  who  knew  about  our  plan  of  a 
new  telegraph  by  wire  hung  up  in  the  air,  and  who  was  our 
patent  agent,  (intending  to  take  out  a  patent  when  we  could  no 
longer  keep  it  a  secret,)  came  to  Mr.  Brown  and  myself,  and 
stated  that  Mr.  Connel  had  obtained  a  writ  against  us,  under  a 
charge  of  conspiracy  for  carrying  on  secret  communication  from 
city  to  city,  and  advising  us  to  leave  New  York  until  he  could 


DYAR'§   ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  429 

settle  the  affair  for  us.  As  you  may  suppose,  this  happening  just 
after  the  notorious  bank-conspiracy  trials,  we  were  frightened  be- 
yond measure,  and  the  same  night  slipped  off  to  Providence,  where 
I  remained  some  time,  and  did  not  return  to  New  York  for  many 
months,  and  then  with  much  fear  of  a  suit.  This  is  the  circum- 
stance which  put  an  end,  killing  effectually  all  desire  to  engage 
further  on  such  a  dangerous  enterprise.  I  think  that  on  my  re- 
turn to  New  York  I  advised  with  Charles  Walker,  who  thought 
that,  however  groundless  such  a  charge  might  be,  it  might  give 
me  infinite  trouble  to  stand  a  suit.  From  all  this  the  very  name 
of  Electric  Telegraph  has  always  given  me  pain  whenever  I 
have  heard  it  spoken  of,  until  I  received  your  last  letter,  stim- 
ulating me  to  come  out  with  my  claims ;  and  even  now  I  can- 
not overcome  the  painful  association  of  ideas  which  the  name 
excites. 

"I  observe  in  a  New  York  paper,  that  a  Mr.  O'Reilly  has 
offered  a  reward  of  $  300  for  the  best  essay  on  the  progress  of 
Electric  Science,  with  reference  to  the  electric  telegraph,  to  be 
presented  before  next  May.  I  suppose  this  is  done  by  him  with 
a  view  to  discover  grounds  of  invalidating  Mr.  Morse's  patent. 
If  you  think  it  best  to  write  to  him,  pray  do  so,  or  to  Mr.  Morse ; 
for  if  he  had  an  account  of  my  telegraph  through  Mr.  Walker, 
and  will  state  the  same,  I  should  not  wish  to  injure  his  patent, 
which  could  be  no  gain  to  me.  In  fact,  after  the  lapse  of  so 
many  years,  it  might  require  my  presence  in  America  to  get  suf- 
ficient evidence  to  invalidate  his  patent.  Although  the  love  of 
fame  is  too  feeble  to  stimulate  me  to  take  any  pains  to  establish 
my  just  claims  to  this  invention,  yet  it  gives  me  much  pleasure 
to  see  an  old  friend  interest  himself  thus  in  my  behalf." 

The  following  testimony  was  given  by  Dr.  Bell,  in  the  suit  for 
an  injunction  above  referred  to. 

"  I  was  very  intimately  acquainted  with  Harrison  Gray  Dyar, 
from  about  1828,  till  the  period  of  his  leaving  this  country,  in  the 
spring  of  1831,  as  near  as  I  can  remember.  He  resided  in  the 
city  of  New  York ;  his  age  was  a  little  more  than  my  own.  In 
my  judgment  he  was  a  man  of  the  highest  inventive  skill  and 
scientific  attainments ;  he  was  engaged  in  various  mechanical  in- 


430  EARLY  DISCOVERIES  IN  ELECTRO-DYNAMICS. 

ventions.  He  went  to  Europe  in  pursuit  of  certain  pecuniary 
advantages  from  some  of  his  mechanical  inventions,  in  which  he 
has,  I  believe,  been  eminently  successful.  I  saw  him  in  Paris, 
in  March,  1845;  I  have  heard  from  him  in  various  ways  since; 
he  visited  me  here,  within  two  years ;  he  now  resides  in  Paris. 

"  I  was  engaged  with  Harrison  Gray  Dyar  for  many  months  in 
1828,  and  often  conversed  upon  the  subject  of  his  having  in- 
vented an  electric  telegraph,  and  I  recollect  seeing  in  his  apart- 
ment a  quantity  of  iron  wire  which  had  been  procured  by  him 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  telegraph. 

"  I  recollect  his  speaking  of  his  having  placed  a  quantity  of 
this  wire  at  an  elevation  around  the  race-course  at  Long  Island 
(at  the  old  Union  Course),  to  a  length  which  satisfied  him  that 
there  were  no  practical  difficulties  in  carrying  it  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia,  which  he  stated  to  me  had  been  his  intention.  I 
recollect  suggesting  doubts  to  him  whether  the  wire  would  bear 
the  necessary  straightening  up  between  the  posts,  and  his  reply, 
that  the  trial  on  Long  Island  had  proved  to  him  that  there  was 
no  difficulty  in  this  course.  My  understanding,  thus  derived  from 
his  conversation,  was,  that  the  electric  spark  was  to  be  sent  from 
one  end  of  this  wire  to  the  other,  and  that  the  spark  was  ex- 
pected to  remove  or  to  leave  its  mark  upon  some  chemically  pre- 
pared paper." 

This  concludes  our  extracts  from  authorities  upon  the  matter 
of  previous  inventions  and  discoveries  made  in  electro-dynamics 
at  the  time  Mr.  Morse  filed  his  first  caveat  in  1837.  We  do  not 
deem  it  necessary  to  offer  any  opinions  in  the  matter,  as  the 
reader,  having  all  the  facts  before  him,  is  fully  as  well  qualified  as 
ourself  to  form  a  correct  judgment  as  to  the  extent  of  Mr.  Morse's 
inventions.  We  have  felt  it  to  be  our  duty,  however,  in  com- 
piling this,  to  bring  forward  all  the  proofs  of  originality  or 
otherwise  which  we  have  been  able  to  obtain,  in  order  that  each 
discoverer  or  invention  might  have  the  due  share  of  credit. 

The  letter  of  Mr.  Dyar,  upon  which  the  most  implicit  .confi- 
dence was  placed  by  the  late  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  contains  mat- 
ter of  great  interest.  It  seems  difficult  for  us  to  believe,  that, 
thirty  years  ago,  a  man  of  the  greatest  scientific  ability  was 


DYAR'S  ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  431 

obliged  to  flee  from  the  great  metropolis  of  our  countiy,  from  the 
fear  of  prosecution  for  inventing  and  operating  an  electric  tele- 
graph. And  yet  such  unquestionably  was  the  case ! 

As  we  have  seen,  the  telegraph  of  Mr.  Dyar  could  not  have 
proved  a  success,  owing  to  the  use  of  frictional  electricity,  even 
had  he  been  unmolested  in  his  operations,  and  no  electric  tele- 
graph was  practically  possible  until  the  discovery  of  the  constant 
battery  by  Professor  Daniell  in  1837 ;  but  it  only  needed  this 
discovery  to  render  it  one  of  the  best  of  recording  telegraphs. 
In  less  than  ten  years  from  the  period  of  Mr.  Dyar's  unsuc- 
cessful debut  in  New  York,  the  electric  telegraph  was  hailed  as 
the  most  wonderful  discovery  of  modern  science,  and  its  intro- 
duction as  a  means  of  communication,  as  one  of  the  greatest  bless- 
ings of  the  age. 

How  wonderful  that  an  all-wise  Providence  should  so  order  it, 
that  the  inventions  and  improvements  of  the  age  should  exactly 
keep  pace  with  the  march  of  the  human  mind  ! 

The  electric  telegraph  would  have  been  of  no  comparative 
value  a  hundred  years  ago,  even  if,  having  been  invented  then,  it 
had  been  allowed  to  work  ;  but  it  has  been  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  inventions  in  steam,  —  following  closely  upon  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  steamboat  and  railroad.  Within  the  past  ten  years  it 
has  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  common  affairs  of  the  world,  as 
to  be  looked  upon  as  a  necessity,  and  rivals  in  importance  even 
the  mail  itself. 


PART    XI. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

GALVANISM. 

IN  the  first  part  of  this  work  we  devoted  some  pages  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  subject  of  Galvanism.  We  shall  now  present  the  matter 
at  greater  length,  with  a  view  of  illustrating  the  various  theories 
which  have  obtained  in  regard  to  it,  and  to  show  what  kinds  of 
batteries  are  best  adapted  for  all  kinds  and  lengths  of  telegraphic  cir- 
cuits. The  following  is  mainly  an  abstract  of  Dr.  Miiller's  paper, 
translated  from  the  German  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  THEORIES. 

Volta  found  that  when  a  slip  of  zinc  and  one  of  copper  were  sol- 
dered end  to  end,  the  one  exhibited  signs  of  positive,  and  the  other  of 
negative  electricity.  He  therefore  concluded  that  the  electricity  was 
due  to  the  contact  of  the  two  metals,  and  that  the  acid  of  the  circuit  only 
performed  the  office  of  a  conductor.  This  view  was  at  first  generally 
adopted,  but,  as  the  phenomena  came  to  be  more  minutely  studied,  it 
was  found  insufficient  to  explain  them,  and  Wollaston,  Davy,  and  oth- 
ers adopted  the  hypothesis  that  the  electricity  was  due  to  the  chemi- 
cal action  of  the  acid  on  one  of  the  metals.  It  has  been  shown  that  a 
galvanic  current  can  be  produced  by  the  action  of  two  liquids  without 
metallic  contact,  and  therefore  the  theory  of  contact  requires  to  be  so 
modified  as  to  extend  the  idea  of  contact  to  that  of  the  liquids  as  well 
as  the  solids  of  the  galvanic  combination.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has 
never  been  fully  proved  that  the  contact  of  two  metals  does  not  in 
itself  produce  a  disturbance  of  the  electrical  equilibrium,  though  this 
effect  does  not  appear  sufficient  to  account  for  the  great  amount  of 
electricity  evolved  in  the  action  of  the  battery.  The  two  theories, 
properly  modified,  approximate  each  other,  and  each,  perhaps,  involves 
elements  of  truth. 


GALVANISM.  433 

The  hypothesis,  that  the  development  of  electricity  is  only  the  con- 
sequence of  chemical  action,  —  that  without  chemical  decomposition 
of  the  electrolyte,  no  electricity  can  appear  in  the  circuit,  —  is  that 
against  which  the  attacks  of  the  advocates  of  the  contact  theory  were 
directed ;  and  it  is,  indeed,  opposed  to  a  great  number  of  facts.  The 
chemical  theory,  in  this  form,  ignores  completely  the  fundamental  ex- 
periment of  Volta ;  it  does  not  explain  how  the  tension  of  electricity 
of  the  open  pile  increases  with  the  number  of  plates.  But  what  is 
most  inconsistent  with  the  maintenance  of  this  theory  is  the  circum- 
stance that  a  number  of  galvanic  circuits  can  be  constructed,  in  which, 
when  open,  not  a  trace  of  chemical  decomposition  takes  place,  but 
which  nevertheless  give  rise  to  currents  when  they  are  closed. 

Schonbein,  in  a  memoir  On  the  Cause  of  the  Hydro-Electric  Current, 
has  referred  to  several  such  circuits.  A  solution  of  perfectly  neutral 
sulphate  of  zinc  does  not  attack  zinc ;  yet  a  combination  of  zinc  and 
copper  in  this  solution  produces  a  current. 

Another  weighty  objection  to  the  form  of  the  chemical  theory, 
which  attributes  the  formation  of  the  current  to  a  preceding  chemical 
attack  upon  one  of  the  metals  of  the  circuit,  is  that  the  electro-motive 
force  of  a  circuit  is  not  at  all  proportional  to  the  violence  of  the  attack. 
If  the  copper  of  a  Daniell's  battery  be  placed  in  a  solution  of  sulphate 
of  copper,  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  apparatus  is  almost  wholly 
unchanged,  whether  the  zinc  is  placed  in  water,  dilute  sulphuric  acid, 
or  in  a  neutral  solution  of  sulphate  of  zinc.  This  has  been  proved  by 
Svanberg,  among  others,  by  accurate  measurements.  If  the  current 
had  its  origin  in  chemical  action,  the  electro-motive  force  should  be  far 
greater  upon  application  of  dilute  acid,  than  of  water  and  sulphate  of 
zinc. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  current  of  the  water  battery  cannot  circulate 
without  decomposition  of  the  liquid.  The  decomposition  appears 
essentially  connected  with  the  passage  of  the  electricity  through  the 
liquid,  and  the  contact  theory  has  fully  acknowledged  the  important 
part  which  chemical  decomposition  in  the  cells  plays  in  the  formation 
of  the  current.  A  dispute  as  to  whether  decomposition  is  the  cause  of 
the  electrical  current,  or  whether  the  chemical  decomposition  in  the 
battery  is  preceded  by  a  state  of  electric  tension,  the  source  of  which 
we  need  not  at  present  ask,  is  the  same  as  though  there  should  be  a 
controversy  as  to  whether  the  motion  of  a  water-wheel  is  owing  to  the 
fall  of  water  or  the  weight  of  water.  The  weight  occasions  the  fall, 
and  the  fall  the  revolution  of  the  wheel,  just  as  the  electric  tension 
occasions  chemical  decomposition,  in  consequence  of  which  the  current 
37  BB 


434  GALVANISM. 

circulates.  Even  Faraday,  who  is  prominent  in  maintaining  chemical 
decomposition  as  the  source  of  the  electrical  current,  concedes  that 
decomposition  is  preceded  by  a  state  of  tension  of  the  liquid ;  for  he 
says,  in  the  case  where  he  applies  his  theory  of  induction  to  electro- 
lytic decomposition :  — 

"  The  theory  assumes  that  the  particles  of  the  dielectric  (now  an 
electrolyte)  are,  in  the  first  instance,  brought,  by  ordinary  inductive 
action,  into  a  polarized  state,  and  raised  to  a  certain  degree  of  tension 
or  intensity,  before  discharge  commences ;  the  inductive  state  being,  in 
fact,  a  necessary  preliminary  to  discharge.  By  taking  advantage  of 
these  circumstances,  which  bear  upon  the  point,  it  is  not  difficult  to  in- 
crease the  tension  indicative  of  this  state  of  induction,  and  so  make 
the  state  itself  more  evident.  Thus,  if  distilled  water  be  employed, 
and  a  long,  narrow  portion  of  it  placed  between  the  electrodes  of  a 
powerful  voltaic  battery,  we  have  at  once  indications  of  the  intensity 

which  can  be  sustained  at  these  electrodes, for  sparks  may  be 

obtained,  gold-leaves  diverged,  and  Leyden  jars  charged." 

Thus  Faraday  concedes  that  a  polarized  state  precedes  decomposi- 
tion of  the  electrolyte  in  the  separate  cells  of  the  battery ;  conse- 
quently it  precedes  the  formation  of  the  current.  The  difference 
between  Faraday's  theory  of  the  pile,  and  the  contact  theory,  is  not 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  of  deriving  the  circulation  of  the  current  from 
chemical  decomposition  in  the  cells.  The  contact  theory  supposes  that 
in  the  water-battery  the  formation  of  the  current  is  the  consequence 
of  chemical  decomposition  in  the  cells.  It  also  supposes  that  this  de- 
composition must  be  preceded  by  a  state  of  tension ;  and  it  is  only  in 
reference  to  the  cause  of  this  tension,  which  is  nothing  else  than  the 
electro-motive  force,  that  there  can  be  any  difference  of  opinion. 

Schonbein  has  attempted  so  to  modify  the  propositions  of  the  two 
theories  as  to  bring  them  more  in  harmony.  The  following  are  the 
principal  features  of  his  theory,  extracted  from  his  own  paper  :  — 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  cause  or  force  by  which  elementary  sub- 
stances are  enabled  to  unite  together  into  an  apparently  homogeneous 
body,  and  to  continue  in  their  new  combination,  this  much  is  certain  : 
that  a  change  must  always  take  place  in  their  condition  if  a  third  ele- 
ment is  brought  into  contact  with  one  of  the  substances,  which  exer- 
cises a  perceptible  chemical  attractive  force  upon  the  other  components 
of  the  compound.  To  illustrate  our  idea,  let  us  select  water  as  an 
example.  Oxygen  and  hydrogen  are  held  together  in  this  compound 
with  a  given  force  ;  or,  to  express  the  same  thing  in  other  words,  the 
chemical  attractive  forces  of  the  elements  of  water  are  in  a  state  of 


GALVANISM.  435 

equilibrium.  An  oxidable  substance,  as  zinc,  being  now  brought  inid 
contact  with  water,  it  will  have  a  chemical  attraction,  of  a  certain  inten- 
sity, for  the  oxygen  of  the  water.  But,  in  consequence  of  this  attrac- 
tion, the  chemical  relation  which  subsisted  between  the  oxygen  and  hy- 
drogen before  the  presence  of  the  zinc  must  be  changed,  or  the  state  of 
the  original  chemical  equilibrium  of  these  elements  is  modified  in  a 
certain  degree,  or  destroyed;  or,  in  other  words,  under  the  circumstances 
mentioned,  the  oxygen  in  each  particle  of  water  will  be  attracted  in 
two  opposite  directions,  —  towards  the  zinc  in  contact  with  the  mole- 
cule of  water,  and  also  towards  the  particle  of  hydrogen  contained  in 
this  molecule. 

"  Now,  since  the  least  mechanical  molecular  change  taking  place  in 
a  body  disturbs  its  electrical  equilibrium,  or  its  particles  become  elec- 
trically polarized,  the  above-described  change,  caused  by  the  zinc,  in 
the  original  chemical  affinity  of  the  oxygen  for  the  hydrogen  of  the 
water,  is  followed  by  the  electrical  polarization  of  the  substances  in 
contact  with  each  other.  The  particle  of  zinc  nearest  the  water  be- 
comes positive ;  the  oxygen  side  of  the  molecule  of  water  touching 
the  zinc  is  negatively  polarized ;  the  hydrogen  side  of  the  same  par- 
ticle positively.  It  is  self-evident  that  the  particle  of  water  in  contact 
with  the  zinc  will  exert  an  inductive  action  on  its  adjoining  molecules, 
the  latter  upon  the  next  particles,  and  so  on,  until  all  the  molecules  of 
water  connected  together  are  in  the  state  of  electrical  opposition  or 
polarization.  Since  an  inductive  action  traverses  the  particles  of  water 
from  the  place  where  the  zinc  and  water  are  in  immediate  contact, 
all  the  contiguous  particles  of  zinc  become  polarized,  and  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  side  of  each  particle  turned  from  the  water  indicates 
negative  polarity,  and  the  side  towards  the  water  positive  polarity. 
By  placing  in  this  polarized  water  a  good  conductor,  or  a  substance 
easily  electrified  which  is  indifferent  towards  the  oxygen  of  the  water, 
such  as  platinum,  the  sides  of  the  particles  of  this  substance  in  imme- 
diate contact  with  the  water  become  negatively  electrified,  and  the  sides 
of  the  same  particles  turned  away  from  the  water  positively,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  inductive  action,  which  is  exerted  by  the  polarized  water 
upon  the  platinum. 

"  All  the  other  particles  of  the  platinum  are  similarly  affected,  that 
is,  the  side  of  each  molecule  turned  from  the  water  has  positive  polar- 
ity ;  that  of  each  molecule  turned  towards  the  water,  negative. 

"  The  following  diagram  gives  a  clear  representation  of  the  electrical 
condition  in  which  the  particles  of  zinc,  water,  and  platinum  are 
found. 


436  GALVANISM. 

"  It  is  very  evident  that  this  condition  of  all  the  particles  of  the  sub- 
stance in  question  will  last  as  long  as  the  cause  producing  the  polar- 
ization exists ;  that  is,  as  long 
as  the  chemical  attraction  of 
the  zinc  for  the  oxygen  of 
the  water  continues.  But  if 
the  contact  of  the  zinc  and 
water  be  broken,  the  oppo- 
site electrical  conditions  in 
which  the  hydrogen  and  ox- 
ygen of  each  molecule  of 
water  exist  are  neutralized, 
which  is  necessarily  followed 
by  a  like  change  in  the  par- 
ticles of  platinum. 

"  Now,  by  placing  the  particle  Z  of  the  arrangement  in  contact 
with  P,  the  negative  side  of  the  former  will  be  in  connection  with  the 
positive  side  of  the  latter,  and  the  opposite  states  of  the  two  particles 
will  mutually  neutralize  each  other.  But  at  the  same  moment  in 
which  the  equilibrium  takes  place  in  these  particles,  it  takes  place 
between  each  two  contiguous  particles  throughout  the  whole  circuit ; 
consequently,  between  the  positive  side  of  a  particle  of  zinc  in  contact 
with  the  water  and  the  negative  oxygen  particle  of  a  molecule  of 
water  in  contact  with  the  zinc.  Likewise,  the  electro-negative  state 
of  a  particle  of  platinum  is  in  equilibrium  with  the  positive  state  of 
the  oxygen  particle  of  the  water  molecule  with  which  it  is  in  contact. 

"  The  electrical  equilibrium  which  now  takes  place  between  each 
metallic  particle  and  each  component  of  a  molecule  of  water  is  not 
possible  without  a  decomposition  of  the  latter,  and  this  very  act  of 
equilibrium  must  be  considered  as  the  true  and  ultimate  cause  of  the 
electrical  decomposition  of  water. 

"  Evidently,  according  to  this  view,  the  actual  combination  of  the 
oxygen  with  the  zinc  of  the  battery  is  regarded  as  only  a  secondary 
action  of  the  current,  or  the  act  of  electrical  equilibrium,  and  not  as 
the  cause  or  source  of  the  current  itself.  The  chemical  combination 
of  the  molecules  of  oxygen  and  zinc  being  completed,  and  a  substance 
being  in  the  water  which  can  remove  the  oxide  of  zinc  from  its  place 
of  formation,  a  new  particle  of  zinc  will  come  in  contact  with  a  mole- 
cule of  water,  and  the  latter,  with  all  the  particles  of  oxygen  lying 
between  the  zinc  and  platinum,  will  be  electrically  polarized  anew. 
By  keeping  the  circuit  closed,  a  neutralization  of  the  electrical  oppo- 


GALVANISM.  437 

sition  will  take  place  between  each  two  contiguous  particles  of  the 
voltaic  battery,  and  the  decomposition  of  new  molecules  of  water 
follows ;  and  thus  proceeds  polarizing  and  depolarizing,  circulation  and 
electrolysis,  until  the  necessary  conditions  cease  to  be  fulfilled. 

"  Suppose  now  that  water  is  placed  between  two  metals  which  man- 
ifest an  exactly  equal  attraction  for  oxygen  ;  it  is  evident  that  it  will 
be  drawn  with  equal  force,  under  these  circumstances,  in  opposite 
directions ;  hence,  the  effects  upon  the  particles  of  water  by  the  metals 
must  be  mutually  destroyed,  the  components  of  these  molecules  will 
not  be  polarized,  and  in  closing  such  a  circuit  neither  circulation  nor 
electrolytic  action  can  take  place. 

"  But  if  the  water  be  placed  between  two  metals,  one  of  which  has 
greater  affinity  for  oxygen  than  the  other,  the  chemical  equilibrium 
existing  between  the  components  of  each  molecule  of  water  will  be 
destroyed,  and  in  proportion  to  the  differences  of  oxidability  of  the 
metals  used. 

"  Since  the  destruction  of  the  chemical  equilibrium  between  the  com- 
ponents of  the  particles  of  water  also  involves  the  destruction  of  elec- 
trical equilibrium,  and  the  latter  is  as  much  more  considerable  as  the 
former  is  greater,  it  follows  that  the  degree  of  electrical  polariza- 
tion of  the  molecules  of  water  between  metals  must  be  proportional 
to  the  difference  of  oxidability  of  the  said  metals ;  or,  to  express 
the  same  thing  differently,  the  magnitude  of  the  electrical  tension 
which  the  parts  of  an  open  circuit  have  for  each  other  is  measured 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  difference  which  exists  between  the  degrees 
of  oxidability  of  the  metals  composing  the  circuit. 

"  Now,  if  the  oxidability  of  a  metal  is  actually  related  to  its  voltaic 
action,  as  stated,  it  is  very  evident  that  the  place  which  a  metallic 
body  has  in  the  tension  series  of  the  contactists  denotes  the  degree 
which  belongs  to  the  same  metal  in  the  scale  of  oxidability  of  metallic 
bodies.  Comparing  the  tension  series  of  the  metals  obtained  by  water 
and  the  galvanoscope  with  the  scale  of  oxidability  of  the  same  bodies 
determined  by  ordinary  chemical  methods,  it  is  impossible  not  to  see 
the  great  accordance  between  the  two  series. 

"  Now,  since  we  have  a  number  of  electrolytes  in  which  other  metal- 
loids than  oxygen,  such  as  the  haloids,  sulphur,  and  selenium,  play  the 
part  of  anions  in  their  combination  with  hydrogen,  it  follows  from 
what  has  been  said,  that  the  electrical  tension  series  of  metals  deter- 
mined with  different  electrolytes  cannot  accord  with  each  other  per- 
fectly. This  want  of  accordance  has  been  placed  beyond  doubt  by 
various  experiments,  and  the  number  of  cases  is  not  very  small  in 
37* 


438  GALVANISM. 

which  the  same  two  metals  manifest  a  different  voltaic  relation  for 
each  other  when  they  are  placed  in  different  electrolytic  liquids ;  so 
that  the  same  metal  which  in  one  liquid  is  positive  towards  the  second 
metal,  manifests  the  opposite  in  another  liquid. 

"  The  case  of  a  reversal  of  voltaic  action  which  the  same  two  metals 
exhibit  in  two  different  liquids  must,  in  accordance  with  the  above 
statements,  always  appear  when  the  chemical  relation  of  these  metals 
to  the  anions  of  the  electrolytes  used  is  nQt  the  same  ;  that  is,  when  the 
affinity  of  one  and  the  same  metal  for  the  two  anions  of  the  electrolyte 
does  not  exceed  the  affinity  of  the  other  metal  for  the  same  anions,  or 
shows  the  opposite  relations. 

"  Experience  above  all  teaches  that  in  general  the  proportions  of 
affinity  which  exist  between  the  metals  and  oxygen  are  similar  to 
those  which  take  place  between  those  bodies  and  the  haloids,  sulphur, 
selenium,  &c. ;  hence  the  voltaic  relations  which  the  metals  manifest 
in  electrolytic  liquids  not  containing  oxygen,  accord  so  frequently  with 
those  which  are  observed  in  the  same  bodies  in  water. 

"  Let  us  now  consider  those  batteries  which  consist  of  one  metal  and 
two  electrolytic  liquids. 

"  The  most  interesting  example  is  that  composed  of  water,  muriatic 
acid,  and  gold. 

"  This  battery  yields  a  current  which  passes  from  the  gold  to  the 
acid,  and  from  this  to  the  water.  This  current  is  very  weak,  and,  by 
reason  of  the  rapid  positive  polarization  of  the  gold  immersed  in  the 
water,  it  soon  ceases  to  have  a  measurable  strength.  The  origin  of  this 
current  depends  upon  the  simple  fact,  that  the  gold  possesses  a  greater 
chemical  affinity  for  the  chlorine  of  the  muriatic  acid  than  for  the 
oxygen  of  the  water. 

"  It  is  easily  inferred  from  the  preceding  explanation,  that  all  voltaic 
arrangements  consisting  of  two  different  electrolytes  and  a  metal  must 
form  circuits,  in  case  the  metal  used  has  a  greater  chemical  affinity  for 
the  anion  of  one  of  the  electrolytic  bodies  than  for  the  anion  of  the 
other.  It  is  likewise  evident  that  the  force  of  the  current  thus  produced 
must  be  proportional  to  the  difference  of  the  two  affinities. 

"  It  need  hardly  be  mentioned,  that  other  than  metallic  bodies  can 
also  be  placed  at  either  end  of  a  continuous  series  of  electrolytic 
molecules  to  polarize  them.  According  to  the  chemical  relation  which 
such  bodies  manifest  for  the  anion  or  cation  of  an  electrolyte,  its  mole- 
cules will  be  polarized  in  the  latter  or  the  former  direction. 

"  If,  for  instance,  chlorine  be  brought  in  contact  with  one  of  the  ends 
of  a  series  of  particles  of  water,  the  chemical  equilibrium  of  this  molecule 


GALVANISM.  439 

will  be  destroyed,  and  its  hydrogen  side  will  be  directed  towards  the 
chlorine.  If  the  end  of  a  platinum  wire  be  placed  in  contact  with  the 
chlorine,  and  the  other  end  of  the  same  wire  in  contact  with  any  par- 
ticle of  water  of  the  same  series,  a  current  must  arise,  passing  from 
this  end  of  the  platinum  wire  through  the  water  to  the  chlorine, 
while  the  latter  combines  chemically  with  the  hydrogen  of  the  water. 

"  On  the  contrary,  a  non-metallic  substance  being  placed  at  the  end 
of  a  continuous  series  of  molecules  of  water,  having  a  chemical  attrac- 
tion for  the  anion  of  this  series,  polarization  of  the  particles  of  water 
will  occur,  and  it  will  be  opposite  to  that  which  chlorine  occasions  in 
the  case  mentioned  above. 

"  Such  a  substance,  for  instance,  is  sulphurous  acid,  which  tends  to 
unite  with  the  oxygen  of  the  water.  This  tendency  is  sufficient  to 
polarize  the  particles  of  water,  and  under  favorable  circumstances 
to  set  the  current  in  motion. 

"  By  placing  at  one  end  of  a  series  of  molecules  of  water  a  body 
which  has  a  chemical  affinity  for  the  anions,  and  at  the  other  end  a 
substance  having  affinity  for  the  cations  of  the  molecules,  it  is  evident 
that  this  series  will  be  under  a  double  polarizing  influence,  and  the 
electro-motive  forces  coming  into  play  will  mutually  increase  each 
other.  A  series  of  such  electrolytic  molecules,  having,  for  instance, 
chlorine  at  one  of  its  ends,  and  sulphurous  acid  at  the  other,  if  closed 
by  a  conductor  forming  a  voltaic  circuit,  must  generate  a  current 
stronger  than  that  which  appears  in  the  cases  where  chlorine  alone  or 
sulphurous  acid  alone  is  used,  other  things  being  the  same. 

"  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark,  that  my  hydrogen  and  platinum 
battery,  as  well  as  Grove's  new  gas  pile,  are  voltaic  arrangements, 
which,  although  presenting  some  peculiarities,  belong  to  the  class  of 
combinations  described  above." 

Schonbein  finally  describes  the  so-called  hyper-oxide  lattery.  By 
immersing  in  water  a  clean  platinum  plate,  and  one  furnished  with  a 
covering  of  hyper-oxide  of  lead,  a  current  will  arise  as  soon  as  the 
two  metal  plates  are  put  in  metallic  connection  ;  and  the  positive  cur- 
rent will  pass  from  the  clean  platinum  plate,  through  the  liquid,  to 
the  other,  covered  with  the  hyper-oxide  of  lead. 

The  formation  of  the  current,  as  well  as  its  direction,  is  easily  ex- 
plained. 

It  is  well  known  that  half  of  the  oxygen  in  the  hyper-oxide  exhib- 
its a  great  tendency  to  separate  and  combine  with  oxidable  bodies. 
Schonbein  has,  moreover,  shown  that  this  second  portion  of  oxygen  in 
the  same  hyper-oxide  has  a  greater  affinity  for  oxidable  substances 


440  GALVANISM. 

than  even  uncombined  or  free  oxygen ;  hence  the  hyper-oxide  will 
polarize  the  particles  of  water  in  such  a  manner  that  the  hydrogen 
sides  turn  towards  the  hyper-oxide.  Other  hyper-oxides  act  in  like 
manner. 

If  we  compare  Schonbein's  theory  with  the  contact  theory,  we  must 
understand  that  they  both  run  parallel,  —  that  the  phenomena  of  the 
open  and  closed  battery  can  be  explained  equally  well  by  both ;  for 
Schonbein  only  removes  the  place  of  excitation  of  electricity  from  the 
point  of  contact  of  the  metals  to  the  point  of  contact  between  metal 
and  liquid.  But  Schonbein's  theory  has  a  decided  advantage  in  this, 
—  that  it  can  determine  beforehand,  in  all  voltaic  combinations,  the 
direction  of  the  current,  from  the  chemical  relations  of  the  substance 
forming  the  battery,  while  the  contact  theory  is  wanting  in  such  a 
principle. 

That  the  same  metals  give  a  current  first  in  one  direction,  and  then 
in  another,  according  as  one  or  another  liquid  is  placed  between  them, 
is  perfectly  explicable,  according  to  the  modified  contact  theory,  from 
the  different  electro-motive  relations  of  the  liquids  to  the  metals. 
Schonbein's  theory  not  only  allows  the  possibility  of  a  reversal  of  the 
current  by  changing  the  liquids,  but  it  also  tells  us  in  what  cases,  and 
why,  the  current  is  reversed. 

Thus  Schonbein's  theory  always  determines  a  priori,  from  the  chem- 
ical nature  of  the  substances  which  form  the  battery,  the  direction  of 
the  current,  no  matter  whether  the  battery  is  formed  of  two  metals 
and  a  liquid,  or  of  two  liquids  and  a  metal ;  while,  on  the  contrary, 
the  contact  theory  in  many  cases  is  so  much  at  fault,  that  it  is  unable 
to  determine  beforehand  the  direction  of  the  current  from  a  general 
principle,  and  in  such  cases  an  experiment  is  required  to  find  its 
direction. 

From  these  considerations,  one  would  suppose  that  there  could  be  no 
doubt  as  to  which  of  the  two  theories  should  prevail ;  whether  Schon- 
bein's chemical  theory,  or  the  modified  contact  theory.  Yet  we  can- 
not decide  unconditionally  for  Schonbein's  theory,  because  it  entirely 
ignores  a  well-established  fact,  the  fundamental  experiment  of  Volta, 
and  is  unable  to  give  an  explanation  of  it. 

That  electricity  is  generated  by  different  metals  coming  in  contact 
with  each  other,  is  a  fact  well  established  by  experiments  purposely 
instituted  in  various  forms,  and  which  cannot  be  ignored  nor  set  aside 
by  such  interpretations  of  the  experiments  as  the  opponents  of  the 
contact  theory  have  contrived. 

The  name  contact  electricity  is  exceedingly  unfit,  and  may  have  con- 


GALVANISM.  441 

tributed  not  a  little  to  the  confusion  of  the  discussion  in  question ; 
properly  speaking,  all  electricity,  wherever  and  however  it  may 
appear,  is  contact  electricity;  for,  in  generating  electricity,  two  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  bodies  are  necessarily,  under  all  circumstances,  brought 
into  contact ;  —  in  electrical  machines,  glass  and  amalgam ;  in  the  vol- 
taic pile,  two  metals  and  a  liquid ;  in  the  thermo  pile,  different  metal- 
lic rods.  Wherever  heterogeneous  substances  are  brought  into  con- 
tact, a  development  of  electricity  takes  place ;  but  generally  a  state  of 
electrical  equilibrium  soon  ensues.  For  a  continuous  excitation  of  elec- 
tricity this  state  of  equilibrium  must  be  continuously  destroyed ;  this  is 
done  in  frictional  electricity  by  removing  the  contact  of  the  closely- 
touching  places  of  the  heterogeneous  substances,  —  in  the  hydro-bat- 
tery, by  the  decomposition  of  the  electrolytes ;  in  the  thermo  pile,  the 
circulation  of  electrical  equilibrium  is  produced  by  the  disturbance  of 
thermal  equilibrium. 

DETERMINATION  OF  THE  CONSTANT  VOLTAIC  BATTERY. 

Unit  of  Force  of  Current.  —  Every  conductor  of  electricity,  however 
good,  opposes  some  resistance  to  its  propagation,  and  many  researches 
have  been  made  to  determine  the  laws  of  the  transfer  through  con- 
ducting media.  The  following  facts  have  been  established  by  experi- 
ment :  — 

1.  Galvanic  electricity  tends  to  diffuse  itself  through  the  whole 
capacity  of  a  conductor,  and  consequently  the  resistance  to  conduc- 
tion will  be  in   proportion  inversely  to  the  transverse   section  of  a 
conductor. 

2.  All  parts  of  a  closed  circuit,  including  the  battery  itself,  are  trav- 
ersed at  the  same  time  by  the  same  quantity  of  electricity,  whatever 
be  the  diversity  of  their  nature. 

It  follows  from  the  second  law,  that  the  absolute  intensity  of  the 
electricity  that  passes  in  a  closed  circuit  depends  upon  two  circum- 
stances :  —  first,  on  the  force  which  develops  the  electricity,  and  which 
is  called  the  electro-motive  force ;  and  secondly,  on  the  resistance  to 
conduction  presented  by  the  whole  circuit  taken  together.  Ohm  was 
the  first  to  give  a  precise  statement  of  these  laws,  and  with  mathemat- 
ical precision  to  deduce  from  them  consequences  which  have  become  of 
great  importance  in  establishing  the  theory  of  the  battery,  as  well  as  in 
the  application  of  electricity  to  the  arts. 

If  we  designate  by  S  the  value  of  the  current,  or  its  power  to  pro- 
duce effects,  and  by  E  the  electro-motive  force  of  a  single  element, 


442  GALVANISM. 

whether  this  be  due  to  contact  or  chemical  action,  or  both,  and  by  R 

the  resistance  in  the  battery,  then  the  relations  may  be  expressed  by 

•pi 
the  equation  S  =  —  . 

In  the  foregoing  equation,  we  have  supposed  that  the  battery  con- 
sists of  a  single  element,  and  that  the  metals  are  joined  by  so  short 
and  thick  a  conductor  that  it  offers  no  appreciable  resistance.  If, 
however,  the  battery  consist  of  n  number  of  elements,  joined  as  before, 
then  the  electro-motive  power  will  be  n  times  greater,  and  also  the 
resistance  will  be  increased  in  the  same  ratio,  and  therefore  we  shall 

,  0        n  E 

have  -S  =  — = . 

TO  K 

If  now  we  introduce  an  additional  resistance  in  the  conductor 
which  joins  the  poles,  and  represent  this  by  r,  then  the  expression 

n  E 
becomes 


~  nR  -f-  r' 

This  is  the  fundamental  equation  of  Ohm,  from  which  all  the  rela- 
tions of  galvanic  combinations  can  be  derived. 

To  determine  the  resistance  of  a  battery,  the  force  of  its  current,  of 
course,  must  be  measured,  if  different  resistances  are  inserted  succes- 
sively in  the  circuit.  The  resistance  of  the  inserted  piece  of  wire  must 
be  first  brought  to  the  adopted  unit.  The  simplest  way  of  doing  this 
would  be  to  use  only  copper  wire  of  one  millimetre  in  diameter,  and  of 
different  lengths;  for  a  piece  10,  15,  20,  &c.  metres  long,  of  this  nor- 
mal wire,  the  resistance  would  be  10,  15,  20,  &c.  But,  since  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  wires  having  exactly  this  diameter,  it  must  be  measured 
accurately,  and  the  computation  made  how  long  a  copper  wire  one 
millimetre  in  diameter  should  be  which  makes  the  same  resistance. 
In  computing  the  actual  resistance  of  the  battery,  this  reduced  length 
of  wire  is  used. 

This  section  of  our  normal  wire  has  a  surface  of  0.785  square  milli- 
metre. Since,  with  equal  resistance,  the  length  of  the  wire  increases 
in  proportion  to  its  section,  it  is  evident  that  a  copper  wire  I  metres 
long,  with  a  radius  r,  and  section  ir  r2,  excites  the  same  resistance  as 

a  normal  wire  of  the  length  L  =  — — j- ,  in  which  L  is  the  reduced 

7T  / 

length  of  the  wire.  A  wire,  for  instance,  having  a  diameter  0.74  mil- 
limetre, a  section  of  0.43  square  millimetre,  and  a  length  of  6  metres, 

will  exert  the  same  resistance  as  a  copper  wire  — — ^ —  =  10.95  me- 
tres long,  and  1  millimetre  in  diameter;  thus  10.95  is  the  reduced 
length  of  the  wire  used  in  the  experiment, 


GALVANISM. 


443 


From  this  inserted  copper  wire  many  pieces  of  different  lengths  may 
be  attained,  5,  10,  20,  &c.  metres  long,  for  similar  experiments,  and 
ready  at  all  times.  Instead  of  longer  copper  wires,  short  pieces  of 
wire  of  badly  conducting  metals,  as  platinum,  iron,  or  German  silver, 
are  best ;  their  resistance  reduced  to  the  normal  wire  must  be  deter- 
mined by  experiment.  Wires  to  about  10  metres  long  can  be  wound 
suitably  into  coils,  and  fixed  in  wooden  cylinders  from  2  to  3  inches  in 
diameter,  and  corresponding  lengths.  Longer  wires  are  covered  with 
silk,  and  wound  on  wooden  rollers,  and  used  thus.  On  these  cylinders 
or  rollers  the  length  of  the  wire  reduced  to  the  normal  wire  can  be 
written,  so  that  there  will  be  no  further  necessity  for  a  reduction  of  the 
inserted  wire. 

It  is  very  evident  that  for  insertions  wire  of  different  lengths  can  be 
applied  advantageously  to  a  rheostat. 

Denote  by  E  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  galvanic  battery,  by  R 
the  essential  resistance  to  conduction;  then  we  have,  according  to 

r* 

Ohm's  law,  the  force  of  the  current,    s  =  -^ ,  with  perfect  metallic 

closing,  —  that  is,  with  such  closing  that  its  resistance  to  conduction, 
compared  with  that  of  the  elements,  may  be  disregarded.  Introduc- 

E» 

ing  the  reduced  length  of  wire,  I,  the  force  will  be  only  s  =  ^ —  • 

We  have  here  s  and  s'  given  by  observation ;  I  is  also  known,  and 
from  these  two  equations  E  can  be  eliminated,  and  the  value  of  R 
computed. 

The  following  tables  give  a  series  of  observations  instituted  for  de- 
termining the  resistance  to  conduction  of  different  batteries.  In  the 
last  vertical  column  are  the  computed  values  of  the  electro-motive 
force,  which  shall  be  spoken  of  later. 


BUNSEN'S  BATTERY. 


Number. 

Insertion  in 
Metres. 

Deflection. 

Tangent  of 
Deflection. 

Force  of 
Current. 

R 

E 

0 

1 

j      7.2 

57 
38 

1.54 
0.781 

107.8    ") 

54.67  f 

7.44 

802 

2 

5    ° 

I    29.2 

57 
17.8 

1.54 
0.321 

107.8    I 
22.47} 

7.72 

832 

3 

I    49 

57 
11.8 

1.54 
0.21 

107.8    > 
14.7    } 

7.74 

834 

Mean,         823 

444 


GALVANISM. 
GROVE'S  BATTERY. 


Number. 

Insertion  in 
Metres. 

Deflection. 

Tangent  of 
Deflection. 

Force  of 
Current. 

R 

E 

1 

j      7.2 

30.8 
23.5 

0.596 
0.435 

41.7  ) 
30.4  J 

19.4 

809 

2 

j    29.2 

30.8 
13.7 

0.596 
0.245 

41.7  > 
17.1  { 

20.4 

851 

3 

|    49 

30.8 
9.7 

0.596 
0.171 

41.7  ") 
12  £ 

19.8 

828 

Mean,         829 

DANIELL'S  BATTERY. 


Number. 

Insertion  in 

Metres. 

Deflection. 

Tangent  of 
Deflection. 

Force  of 
Current. 

R 

E 

1 

J       ° 
I    68.7 

32 
5.45 

0.625 
0.101 

43.75] 

7.07  j 

11.1 

486 

2 

1      ° 
I      7.2 

16.8 
12.75 

0.302 
0.266 

21.14) 

15.82  j" 

21.5 

454 

Mean,         470 

SMEE'S  ELEMENT. 


Number. 

Insertion  in 
Metres. 

Deflection. 

Tangent  of 
Deflection. 

Force  of 
Current. 

R 

E 

1 

1       ° 
j      7.2 

26 
12.25 

0.488 
0.217 

34.16  > 
15.19; 

5.3 

181 

2 

f      ° 

I    29.02 

26 
5.25 

0.488 
0.092 

34.16  > 
15.19) 

7 

239 

Mean,         210 

WOLLASTON'S  ELEMENT. 


Number. 

Insertion  in 
Metres. 

Deflection. 

Tangent  of 
Deflection. 

Force  of 
Current. 

R 

E 

1 

5    ° 

j      7.2 

23.6 
11.6 

0437 
0.205 

30.58  I 
14.17  j 

6.3 

193 

2 

I     ° 
I    29.2 

23.6 
5 

0.437 

0.087 

30.58  ) 
6.12  j 

7.3 

223 

Mean,         208 

GALVANISM.  445 

We  must  append  a  few  remarks  on  the  separate  experiments 
whose  data  are  given  in  the  tables. 

The  numbers  under  the  head  "  Insertion "  indicate  the  reduced 
length  of  the  inserted  wire. 

The  sulphuric  acid  used  in  the  first  experiment  with  the  Bunsen 
battery  was  diluted  with  about  ten  times  its  quantity  of  water ;  in  the 
second  and  third,  the  acid  was  diluted  still  more.  The  nitric  acid  had 
a  specific  gravity  of  1.18. 

In  DanielFs  battery  the  red-clay  cells  were  used ;  in  the  first  ex- 
periment, the  zinc  was  placed  in  a  mixture  of  one  part  sulphuric  acid 
to  ten  parts  water ;  in  the  last  experiment,  acid  which  had  been 
already  used,  and  still  more  diluted,  was  applied. 

The  resistance  of  the  element  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the 
liquid  and  the  size  of  the  pair  of  plates ;  hence,  to  be  able  to  compare 
the  conducting  capacity  of  different  galvanic  combinations  properly, 
the  resistance  must  be  reduced  to  the  same  sized  pair  of  plates,  and 
thus  the  surface  of  the  latter,  with  which  the  experiment  is  made, 
must  be  known. 

To  compare  the  electro-motive  forces  of  different  batteries,  the  fol- 
lowing process  is,  therefore,  to  be  adopted.  In  the  conducting  circuit 
of  the  battery,  besides  the  galvanometer,  the  rheostat  is  inserted  with 
so  much  wire  as  to  produce  a  deflection  of  the  needle  of  45° ;  the 
resistance  is  then  increased  by  turning  the  rheostat  until  the  deflec- 
tion of  the  needle  is  only  40° ;  the  number  of  turns  is  thus  a  measure 
of  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  battery. 

Suppose,  for  example,  the  current  of  a  Daniell's  element  be  passed 
through  the  rheostat  and  the  galvanometer,  and  so  much  wire  has  been 
inserted  as  to  produce  the  deflection  of  45°.  To  reduce  the  deflection 
from  45°  to  40°,  suppose  thirty  turns  of  the  rheostat  must  be  added. 
Now  insert  a  Grove's  element  into  the  same  circuit,  and  so  regulate 
the  entire  resistance  that  the  needle  stands  again  at  45°.  To  bring  it 
down  to  40°,  the  resistance  must  be  increased  by  (say)  fifty  turns  of  the 
rheostat ;  then  the  electro-motive  force  of  Daniell's  battery  is  to  that  of 
Grove's  as  30  to  50.  This  is  evidently  the  simplest  process  for  deter- 
mining the  ratio  of  the  electro-motive  forces  of  different  batteries. 

Wheatstone  used  a  multiplier  as  a  rheometer,  and  on  that  account 
had  to  insert  a  considerable  resistance  to  make  the  current  of  the 
hydro-electric  elements  weak  enough.  Under  these  circumstances,  of 
course,  only  a  rheostat  with  a  thin  wire  can  be  used. 

Although  this  method  was  originally  designed  for  a  multiplier,  it 
may  be  also  used  with  any  other  rheometer,  as  the  torsion  galvanom- 
38 


446  GALVANISM. 

eter,  tangent  compass,  &c.  But  with  these  instruments,  which  admit 
of  stronger  currents,  the  current  employed,  of  course,  need  not  be 
very  weak,  and  therefore  a  rheostat  with  a  thicker  wire  can  be  used. 

This  method  of  Wheatstone  gives  us  the  values  of  electro-motive 
force,  measured  by  the  length  of  wires  required  to  effect  the  retro- 
gression of  the  needle ;  hence  these  numbers  are  dependent  on  the 
individuality  of  the  galvanometer  and  the  rheostat. 

As  examples  of  his  method,  Wheatstone  adduces  the  following 
measurements.  Three  small  DanielPs  batteries  of  unequal  size  were  in 
succession  brought  into  the  circuit.  To  revert  the  needle  from  45°  to 
40°,  the  following  number  of  turns  of  the  rheostat  was  necessary :  — 

Copper  cylinder  1^  inches  high,  2  inches  in  diameter,  30  turns. 

u  u         31       ..          «       2-1      "         "         "      30     *' 

((  U  £  it  U  Ql  U  U  it          QA        U 

U 

Thus  the  electro-motive  force,  according  to  the  theory,  is  independent 
of  the  size  of  the  pair  of  plates. 

When  batteries  of  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  5  equal  elements  were  used  as  elec- 
tro-motors in  succession,  the  following  results  were  obtained :  — 

1  element  required  30  turns.          4  elements  required  120  turns. 

2  it  u         61     "  5         "  "        150     " 

3  «  «         91     " 

Thus  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  battery  is,  as  theory  indicates, 
proportional  to  the  number  of  pairs  of  plates. 

We  have  determined  by  this  method  the  electro-motive  force  of  a 
Daniell's,  a  Grove's,  and  a  Bunsen's  element,  using  for  this  purpose  the 
tangent  compass,  and  a  rheostat  with  thick  wire.     For  bringing  the 
needle  back  from  15°  to  10°,  we  found  as  follows  :  — 
With  Daniell's  element,  9  turns. 
"     Grove's         "       13      « 
"    Bunsen's      "       13.6    " 

After  these  determinations,  it   is  easy  to  reduce  the  number  of 
turns  necessary  to  revert  the  needle  from  15°  to  10°  to  the  unit  of 
electro-motive  force  described  above.     We  have  15.1  turns,  equivalent 
to  823  of  electro-motive  force  ;  hence,  one  turn  is  equivalent  to  54.51 
of  electro-motive  force.     Thus  the  values  determined  by  revolution 
of  the  rheostat  expressed  in  our  unit  are  as  follows :  — 
For  Daniell's  battery,  490. 
"     Grove's         "        709. 
"     Bunsen's       '<       741. 


GALVANISM.  447 

Comparison  of  Different  Voltaic  Combinations.  —  In  the  last  para- 
graph we  have  seen  how  the  constants  of  a  voltaic  combination  can  be 
determined  and  expressed  in  comparable  values.  None  of  the  state- 
ments of  the  effects  of  batteries,  as  they  are  ordinarily  presented  for 
comparison,  are  satisfactory.  The  want  of  accurate  numerical  deter- 
minations occasions  great  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  different  galvanic  combinations.  If  such  uncertainty 
exists  in  the  accounts  of  men  of  science,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  to 
find  communications  in  technical  journals  which  betray  entire  igno- 
rance of  the  principles  here  discussed. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  most  important  of  the  galvanic  combina- 
tions somewhat  more  closely. 

WOLLASTON'S  BATTERY. 

The  Simple  Zinc  and  Copper  Battery.  —  The  simple  zinc  and  copper 
battery  is  not  constant,  because  the  electro-motive  force  is  considerably 
modified  by  the  polarization  of  the  copper  plate,  which  takes  place  in 
consequence  of  the  current.  Poggendorff  found  the  electro-motive 
force  of  the  zinc  and  copper  battery  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  before 
being  modified  by  polarization,  to  be  equal  to  13.8,  while  the  electro- 
motive force  of  Grove's  battery  is  equal  to  22.9. 

Assuming  the  electro-motive  force  of  Grove's  battery  to  be  830, 
referred  to  the  chemical  unit,  the  unmodified  electro-motive  force  of 
the  zinc  and  copper  battery  would  be  500  of  the  same  unit.  But 
according  to  our  experiments,  when  the  current  commences,  the  electro- 
motive force  of  the  zinc  and  copper  combination  is  only  208  ;  thus,  by 
polarization,  the  force  is  very  soon  reduced  to  two  fifths  of  its  original 
value,  and  this  is  also  the  reason  that  immediately  after  immersion 
the  current  is  exceedingly  strong,  but  very  rapidly  decreases.  The 
polarization  having  once  reached  its  maximum,  the  current  remains 
tolerably  constant,  —  at  least,  so  much  so  as  to  admit  of  accurate  meas- 
urement. 

The  reason  why  batteries  with  one  liquid  are  not  constant,  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  polarization  of  the  negative  plate ;  and  this  is  obviated  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  so-called  constant  battery.  Yet  the  strength  of 
the  current  of  the  constant  battery  gradually  decreases  by  leaving  it 
closed  for  a  long  time,  because  the  liquid  gradually  changes,  —  the 
dilute  sulphuric  acid  becoming  converted,  by  degrees,  into  a  solution  of 
sulphate  of  zinc.  A  corresponding  change  in  the  nature  of  the  liquid 
takes  place  in  all  batteries,  without  exception,  and  it  is  only  to  be 
avoided  by  renewing  the  liquid  from  time  to  time.  An  arrangement 


448  GALVANISM. 

might  be  so  made  that  the  heavy  solution  of  sulphate  of  zinc  would 
now  off  slowly  from  the  lower  part  of  the  vessel,  and  the  fresh  acid 
flow  in  above  at  the  same  rate. 

A  circumstance  which  acts  quite  injuriously  in  all  batteries  without 
porous  partitions  is,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  current,  the  sulphate  of 
zinc  solution  is  decomposed,  and  metallic  zinc  deposited  on  the  nega- 
tive plate,  whence,  during  a  protracted  action  of  the  battery,  its 
electro-motive  force  must  decrease  more  and  more. 

The  constancy  of  the  battery  current  depends  essentially  upon  its 
strength.  Feeble  currents,  like  those  obtained  by  using  very  dilute 
acid,  and  with  great  resistance  included  in  the  circuit,  remain  constant 
for  some  time ;  while  by  using  stronger  acid  and  less  resistance  the 
strength  of  the  current  must  necessarily  decrease  far  more  rapidly. 
Hence,  if  it  be  desired  to  compare  different  batteries  with  reference  to 
their  constancy,  equal  resistance  and  like  acid  must  be  used.  Neglect 
of  these  conditions  may  have  been  the  occasion  of  numerous  errors  in 
regard  to  the  constancy  of  single  batteries. 

Batteries  composed  of  zinc  and  copper  plates  buried  in  the  moist 
ground  are  said  to  be  very  constant.  Such  batteries,  however,  yield 
very  weak  currents,  because  the  resistance  to  conduction  between  the 
plates  is  very  great.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  current  of  this  battery 
will  remain  constant  longer  than  when  the  plates  were  immersed  in 
acid. 

SMEE'S  BATTERY. 

This  battery  was  greatly  praised  in  many  quarters :  it  was  repre- 
sented to  produce  very  strong  currents,  and  to  be  far  more  constant 
than  other  batteries  with  one  liquid.  No  measurements  in  support  of 
this  opinion  were  made,  and  I  have  not  found  it  anywhere  confirmed. 

The  copper  of  Wollaston's  battery  is  substituted  in  Smee's  by 
platinum,  or  silver  covered  by  a  rough  surface  of  platinum.  This  coat- 
ing of  platinum  is  produced  by  immersing  the  perfectly  clean  plate  in 
a  solution  of  chloride  of  platinum  and  potassium  in  contact  with  the 
negative  pole  of  a  rather  weak  battery,  the  positive  pole  of  which  dips 
at  the  same  time  into  the  solution.  The  platinum  deposits  on  the  plate 
at  the  negative  pole.  If  the  positive  pole  be  also  a  plate  of  platinum, 
it  will  be  attacked  by  the  chlorine,  and  the  solution  will  be  kept  satu- 
rated. 

The  two  surfaces  of  Smee's  platinized  plate  are  placed  at  about  one 
line  distance  from  the  zinc  plates.  The  width  of  the  zinc  plates  is  to 
be  only  about  three  quarters  that  of  the  platinized  plate.  What 


GALVANISM.  449 

is  to  be  expected  to  be  gained  by  this,  we  cannot  see.  It  is  not  the  case 
in  the  Smee  element  with  which  we  experimented,  the  negative  plate 
of  which  was  platinized  silver. 

This  battery  is  far  less  constant  than  Wollaston's,  and  the  variations 
of  the  needle  were  far  greater. 

Assuming  as  a  mean  for  the  insertion  0,  the  deflection  26°,  for  the 
copper  wire  12°.25,  and  for  the  brass  wire  5°.5,  the  electro-motive  force 
of  Smee's  element  is  212,  which  is  scarcely  greater  than  that  of  Wollas- 
ton's, which  we  have  seen  is  208.  With  equal  surfaces,  the  resistances 
of  the  two  elements  are  tolerably  equal.  From  these  experiments,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Smee's  battery  deserves  any  preference  over 
Wollaston's.  It  is  yet  to  be  determined  whether  platinized  platinum 
gives  better  results  than  platinized  silver. 

The  Zinc  and  Copper  Battery  with  Two  Liquids.  —  When  the  copper 
of  a  zinc  and  copper  battery  is  placed  in  a  concentrated  solution  of 
sulphate  of  copper,  and  this  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the  two  liquids 
being  separated  by  a  porous  partition,  the  injurious  effects  of  polariza- 
tion are  in  a  great  measure  removed,  the  electro-motive  force  becomes 
greater  than  in  the  ordinary  zinc  and  copper  battery,  and  the  strength 
of  the  current  is  constant. 

The  electro-motive  force  of  Daniell's  battery  is,  E  =  470.  From 
Svanberg's  experiments  it  appears  that  it  changes  but  little  with 
the  nature  of  the  liquid.  The  copper  being  constantly  immersed 
in  a  concentrated  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  the  zinc  im- 
mersed in  various  liquids  successively,  the  following  values,  expressed 
in  an  arbitrary  unit,  were  obtained  for  the  electro-motive  force :  — 

For  concentrated  solution  of  sulphate  of  zinc,     .         .15.6 

For  the  same,  much  diluted, 15.9 

For  concentrated  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,    .         .16.6 

For  the  same,  much  diluted, 16.2 

For  slightly  acidified  water, 16.5 

For  more  strongly  acidified  water,    .        .        .        .        16.7 

Daniell's  battery  is,  perhaps,  the  most  constant  of  all,  which  is  due 
partly  to  the  acid  being  used  up  less  rapidly ;  since  the  acid,  set  free 
by  the  decomposition  of  the  sulphate  of  copper,  passes,  in  part  at  least, 
through  the  porous  cell  to  the  liquid  in  which  the  zinc  is  immersed. 

The  best  kind  of  battery  to  be  employed  depends  entirely  upon  the 

nature  of  the  work  to  be  performed  by  its  power.     If  it  has  only  to 

move  a  magnetic  needle  surrounded  by  a  coil  of  wire,  the  simplest 

arrangement  of  battery  is  required,  such  as  one  composed  of  cells  con- 

38*  cc 


450  GALVANISM. 

taining  plates  of  copper  and  zinc  immersed  in  a  solution  of  sulphuric 
acid  or  of  the  sulphate  of  alumina.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  cur- 
rent is  required  to  perform  powerful  mechanical  effects  at  a  distant 
station,  galvanic  batteries  of  a  stronger  power  are  necessary,  —  such 
for  instance,  as  Daniell's  or  Grove's  batteries. 

GROVE'S  BATTERY. 

According  to  our  measurements,  given  in  this  chapter, — which,  how- 
ever, for  Grove's  battery,  have  no  claim  to  great  accuracy,  —  the  elec- 
tro-motive force  of  this  battery  is,  in  chemical  measures,  829. 

Other  observers  have  determined  its  force,  not  in  an  absolute 
measure,  but  compared  •with  that  of  Daniell's  battery.  Making  the 
electro-motive  force  of  the  latter  equal  to  1,  we  have  for  Grove's 
as  follows :  — 

By  Jacobi,  .  ....     1.666 

By  Buff, 1.712 

By  Poggendorff, -1.668 

"  "  1.565 

Mean, 1.653 

Assuming  the  force  of  Daniell's  battery  in  chemical  measure,  ac- 
cording to  my  determination,  equal  to  470,  we  should  have,  in  the 
same  measure,  that  of  Grove's,  equal  to 

470  X  1-653  =  777; 

while  I  found  the  value  of  the  electro-motive  force  of  this  battery  to  be 
829,  or  about  6£  per  cent  greater. 

The  observers  above  named  made  no  comparison  of  the  resistance  of 
Grove's  battery  with  that  of  Daniell's.  Such  a  comparison,  however, 
can  hold  good  only  for  an  individual  battery,  since  it  changes  with  the 
nature  of  the  earthen  cells,  and  is  dependent  upon  the  degree  of  con- 
centration of  the  liquid. 

In  using  Grove's  battery  for  telegraphic  purposes,  it  often  happens 
that  the  nitric  acid  penetrates  through  the  earthen  cells,  and  attacks 
the  zinc  so  powerfully  that  it  has  to  be  newly  amalgamated  every  day. 
Crystals  of  Glauber  salts  cast  into  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid  are  said  to 
remedy  this  evil.  The  explanation  of  this  may  probably  be,  that  the 
Glauber  salts  are  decomposed,  and  nitrate  of  soda  is  formed,  the  free 
nitric  acid  then  disappearing. 


GALVANISM.  451 

BUNSEN'S  BATTERY. 

As  a  mean  of  all  our  experiments,  the  electro-motive  force  of  the 
zinc  and  carbon  battery  was  found  to  have,  in  chemical  measure,  the 
value  824. 

The  force  of  DanielFs  battery  being  made  equal  to  1,  that  of  the 
zinc  and  carbon  battery  was  found  by  Buff  to  be  1.712;  by  Poggen- 
dorff,  1.548. 

The  electro-motive  force  of  the  zinc  and  carbon  battery,  and  that  of 
Grove's,  are  so  nearly  equal,  that  in  practical  use  the  little  difference 
may  be  disregarded. 

According  to  Poggendorff,  the  electro-motive  force  of  Bunsen's  bat- 
tery remains  almost  the  same,  if  for  the  nitric  acid  is  substituted  a  solu~ 
tion  of  bichromate  of  potash ;  indeed,  with  the  liquid  it  is  somewhat 
greater,  the  proportion  being  1,580  to  1,548. 

ZINC  AND  IRON  BATTERY. 

It  has  been  proposed  by  many  to  use  iron  instead  of  platinum  or 
copper  in  the  construction  of  galvanic  batteries.  Roberts  made  a 
zinc  and  iron  battery  in  the  following  manner.  A  cast-iron  vessel  10 
inches  high  and  3.9  inches  in  diameter  served  for  holding  a  mixture 
of  one  part  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  and  three  parts  of  strong 
nitric  acid ;  in  this  liquid  an  earthen  cell  filled  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  was  placed,  which  cell  also  served  for  the  reception  of  the  zinc 
cylinder  9.9  inches  high  and  3.3  inches  wide.  Five  such  elements 
yielded  forty  cubic  inches  of  detonating  gas  in  a  volta-metre  placed  in 
the  circuit.  This  is  certainly  quite  a  considerable  effect. 

Callan  constructed  a  zinc  and  iron  battery  of  a  form  similar  to  that 
which  Grove  had  originally  given  to  his  zinc  and  platinum  battery, 
viz.  rectangular,  smooth  earthen  cells,  4^  inches  long  and  4^  high.  A 
turkey-cock  was  instantly  killed  by  the  stroke  of  such  a  battery,  com- 
posed of  620  elements  ;  and  on  examination  the  craw  was  found  burst. 

Poggendorff  found  for  the  electro-motive  force  of  different  combina- 
tions the  following  values :  — 

Zinc  and  platinum,        .  .         .100 

Zinc  and  iron, 78.6 

Zinc  and  steel,       .         .        .         .         .87.0 
Zinc  and  cast-iron,     .         .         .         .          89.6 

The  zinc  being  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  platinum,  iron,  &c. 

in  concentrated  nitric  acid.     The  resistances  are  tolerably  equal  in  all 

these  combinations. 


452  GALVANISM. 

THE  IRON  AND  IRON  BATTERY. 

That,  instead  of  the  platinum  in  Grove's  battery,  iron  can  be  suc- 
cessfully substituted,  is  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  iron  immersed 
in  concentrated  nitric  acid  becomes  passive,  and  in  this  state  acts  like 
a  strong  electro-negative  metal.  From  this  Wohler  and  Weber  in- 
ferred that  iron  placed  in  concentrated  nitric  acid  might  act  towards 
iron  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  as  platinum  does  towards  zinc.  Their  ex- 
pectation was  entirely  confirmed  on  trial,  and  they  constructed  a  very 
powerful  battery  in  this  manner. 

They  found  it  advantageous  to  use  ordinary  tin-plate  iron  for  the 
metal  immersed  in  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid. 

The  most  convenient  form  of  the  iron  battery  is  perhaps  that  of  a 
cast-iron  vessel  which  receives  the  nitric  acid  and  the  earthen  cell, 
in  which  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid  is  placed  with  the  active  iron. 

Callan  describes  a  new  voltaic  combination,  of  which  Poggendorff 
gave  an  account.  For  the  platinum  of  Grove's  battery  is  here  substi- 
tuted platinized  lead,  which  is  immersed  in  a  mixture  of  four  parts  of 
concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  two  parts  of  nitric  acid,  and  two  parts  of  a 
saturated  solution  of  nitrate  of  potash.  The  zinc  is  in  dilute  sulphuric 
acid,  separated  of  course  from  the  other  liquids  by  an  earthen  cell. 

Poggendorff  found  the  electro-motive  force  of  this  combination  was 
equal  to  that  of  Grove's ;  and  that  the  current  from  it  for  many  hours 
indicated  the  same  constancy  as  that  of  a  zinc  and  platinum  battery. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  found  that  the  addition  of  saltpetre  to  the 
nitric  acid  is  no  improvement,  but  the  addition  of  concentrated  sulphuric 
acid  has  the  advantage  of  protecting  the  lead  from  the  action  of  nitric 
acid,  which  the  pulverulent  coating  of  platina  cannot  do,  and  allows, 
besides,  the  use  of  dilute  nitric  acid. 

Considered  strictly,  this  combination  is  a  zinc  and  platinum  battery, 
since  the  lead  serves  properly  only  as  a  support  for  the  thin  film  of 
platinum;  therefore  zinc  and  platinum  are  the  terminations  of  the 
metallic  circuit  immersed  in  the  liquid. 

THE  MOST  CONVENIENT  COMBINATION  OP  A  GIVEN  NUMBER  OP 
VOLTAIC  ELEMENTS  FOR  OBTAINING  THE  GREATEST  EFFECT 
WITH  A  GIVEN  CLOSING  CIRCUIT. 

Theoretically,  this  subject  has  long  since  been  settled,  but  the  inves- 
tigations are  mostly  conducted  by  the  aid  of  the  higher  calculus,  and 
the  whole  is  presented  in  such  a  form  that  the  practical  use  of  the  prop- 


GALVANISM.  453 

osltion  is  indicated,  rather  than  fully  exhibited;  on  this  account,  a 
somewhat  more  detailed  exposition  may  here  be  in  place. 

Generally,  the  question  is  stated  thus :  How  should  a  given  metallic 
surface,  which  is  to  be  used  in  constructing  voltaic  elements,  be  ar- 
ranged, (that  is,  how  many  elements,  and  how  large  should  they  be,) 
in  order  that  a  maximum  effect  shall  be  obtained  with  a  given  clos- 
ing circuit? 

This  form  of  the  question  does  not  correspond  exactly  with  practical 
cases.  We  are  not  required,  generally,  to  construct  the  voltaic  bat- 
tery for  a  given  closing  circuit ;  but  the  question  is,  how  to  combine  a 
disposable  number  of  galvanic  elements  to  obtain  a  maximum  effect. 

A  maximum  strength  of  current  may  be  obtained  from  a  given  number 
of  elements,  if  they  be  so  arranged  that  the  resistance  in  the  battery  is 
equal  to  the  resistance  in  the  closing  arc. 

We  will  first  explain  this  proposition,  then  prove  it.  A  given  num- 
ber of  elements  can  be  combined  in  the  most  varied  manner.  For  in- 
stance, 24  elements  can  be  arranged  in  8  different  ways :  — 

1.  As  a  battery  of  28  single  elements. 

2.  "  "  12  double  elements. 

3.  "  "  8  treble  elements. 

4.  "  "  6  four-fold  elements. 

5.  "  "  4  six-fold  elements. 

6.  "  "  3  eight-fold  elements. 

7.  "  "  2  twelve-fold  elements. 

8.  "  "  1  twenty-four-fold  element. 

Which  one  of  these  combinations  should  be  selected  in  a  given  case, 
depends  upon  the  resistance  to  conduction  of  the  circuit.  That  com- 
bination must  be  taken,  the  resistance  of  which  is  nearest  to  that  of 
the  given  circuit.  Denoting  by  1  the  resistance  of  an  element,  the 
resistance  of  the 

1st  combination  is  24. 

2d  "  "  6. 

3d  "  "  2.666 

4th  "  "  1.5 

5th  "  "  0.666 

6th  "  "  0.375 

7th  "  "  0.166 

8th  "  "  0.046 

Considering  the  different  combinations  of  24  elements,  as  repre- 


454  GALVANISM. 

sented  in  the  above  table,  it  is  easily  seen  that,  if  the  pile  be  shortened, 
it  becomes  broad  in  the  same  proportion ;  that  is,  if  fewer  elements 
be  placed  one  after  the  other,  we  can,  by  using  the  same  number 
of  elements,  place  more  of  them  beside  each  other  in  the  same  pro- 
portion. 

Commencing  with  the  second  combination,  we  have  here  12  double 
elements.  If  we  reduce  the  length  of  the  pile  by  one  half,  or  to  6,  we 
can  double  the  width  of  each  element.  We  shall  then  have  6  four- 
fold elements. 

Making  the  pile  three  times  shorter,  three  times  as  many  single  ele- 
ments can  be  united  in  one ;  from  1 2  double  elements  we  obtain  4  of 
six-fold.  In  short,  if  the  pile  be  made  a  times  shorter,  we  can  unite  a 
times  as  many  single  elements  in  one. 

If  the  number  of  elements  combined,  one  after  another,  to  form  a 
pile,  is  a  times  less,  the  electro-motive  force  thus  becomes  a  times  less ; 
if  the  battery  had  now  been  made  only  a  times  shorter,  without  increas- 
ing its  width,  the  resistance  would  have  been  a  times  less ;  but  if  each 
element  of  those  in  a  pile  consists  of  a  times  as  many  single  elements 
as  before,  the  resistance  becomes  a2  times  less  than  before. 

Thus  the  resistance  of  six  quadruple  elements  (combination  No.  4)  is 
four  times  less  than  for  twelve  double  elements  (combination  No.  2)  ; 
for  four  six-fold  elements  (combination  No.  5),  nine  times  less  than  for 
twelve  double,  &c. 

From  this  exposition,  the  proof  in  question  is  easily  derived.  For 
any  combination  of  a  number  of  elements,  let  the  electro-motive  force 
be  jE,  and  the  battery  resistance  I.  This  battery  being  closed  by  a 
conducting  circuit,  whose  resistance  is  also  Z,  we  have,  according  to 
Ohm's  law,  the  strength  of  the  current :  — 

TTT  TTI 

(i)  s=_JL==*Lt 

The  pile  being  now  made  a  times  shorter,  but  the  single  elements  a 

ft* 

times  wider,  the  electro-motive  force  will  be  a  times  less,  or  — ;  but  the 

I  a 

resistance  of  the  battery  will  be  —  ,  and  the  force  of  the  current,  for 

the  same  connecting  arc,  will  be 

E 

(2)  &  -  _•_  -         * 


('+;) 


But  the  sum  a  -{-  -  is,  under  all  circumstances,  greater  than  2*,  which 


GALVANISM.  455 

in  an  integral  or  fractional  quantity  we  may  substitute  for  a ;  thus  the 
value  of  the  fraction  (2)  is,  under  all  circumstances,  less  than  that  of 
(1).  Since  (1)  denotes  the  value  of  the  strength  of  the  current  for 
cases  in  which  the  resistance  in  the  electrometer  is  equal  to  the  resist- 
ance of  the  closing  arc,  and  (2)  the  value  of  the  strength  of  the  cur- 
rent for  cases  in  which  the  number  of  single  elements  is  combined  in 
any  other  manner,  the  proposition  in  question  is  therefore  proved. 

The  application  of  this  proposition  may  be  shown  by  an  example. 
If,  in  magnetizing  an  electro-magnet,  the  current  of  24  zinc  and  car- 
bon elements  be  used,  the  resistance  of  one  element,  with  weak  acid, 
is  15.05.  But  resistance  of  the  coils  of  the  electro-magnet  has  been 
found  equal  to  that  of  13.54  metres  of  normal  wire,  and  therefore  the 
resistance  of  the  connecting  arc  is  0.9  of  that  of  a  single  element.  A 
glance  at  the  table  upon  page  453  shows  us  that  we  must  select  the 
fifth  combination  as  the  most  suitable ;  because  its  resistance,  0.65,  ia 
nearer  to  that  of  the  closing  arc  than  that  of  the  other  combinations. 
Make,  for  sake  of  brevity,  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  element 
equal  to  1,  and  the  resistance  also  1  ;  then,  if  we  apply  successively  all 
of  the  eight  combinations  to  the  electro-magnet  above  mentioned,  the 
following  values  will  be  obtained  for  the  strength  of  the  current :  — 

24        =  0.963. 


6  +  079  = 

2.666  -f  0.9  = 

6  2.5. 


1.5  -f-  0.9 

A 

=  2.54. 


0.666  -{-  0.9 

3 

0.375  -f  0.9 

2 
0.166  -f  0.9 

1 

0.042  -f  0.9 


=  336. 
=  1.85. 
=  1.61. 


456  GALVANISM. 

It  is  observed  here,  that  with  the  combination  5,  the  coils  of  the  elec- 
tro-magnet remaining  unchanged,  the  magnetism  of  the  soft  iron  will 
be  greater  than  with  any  of  the  other  combinations.  Combination  4 
approaches  5  very  closely  in  its  effects  ;  thus  the  exact  maximum 
should  be  looked  for  between  4  and  5. 

If  a  given  number  of  elements  be  so  combined  that  they  will  yield 
in  a  given  circuit  a  maximum  strength  of  current,  an  increase  of  the 
number  of  elements  will  increase  the  strength  of  the  current,  in  the 
most  favorable  cases,  only  in  proportion  to  the  square  root  of  the  num- 
ber of  elements  ;  then  4,  9,  or  16  times  as  many  elements  must  be 
used  to  obtain  2,  3,  or  4-fold  effects. 

We  shall  endeavor  to  prove  this,  in  a  special  case.  Let  the  resist- 
ance of  the  closing  arc  be  r,  equal  to  the  resistance  of  one  element,  the 
electro-motive  force  of  which  is  denoted  by  E,  then  the  strength  of  the 
current  is 

s-  E  -E 

-r  +  r—  2r' 

Now  let  us  double  the  force  of  the  current  by  increasing  the  number 
of  elements.  To  obtain  a  maximum  effect  from  the  new  combination, 
the  resistance  in  the  battery  must  continue  as  great  as  the  resistance 
of  the  closing  arc  ;  therefore,  the  resistance  of  the  new  combination 
must  not  be  greater  than  that  of  a  single  element  ;  hence,  we  shall 
obtain  double  the  force  of  the  current,  if,  with  unchanged  resistance, 
we  double  the  electro-motive  force.  This  is  done  by  placing  one  ele- 
ment after  another  ;  but  we  must  take  two  double  elements,  if  their 
resistance  is  to  be  as  great  as  that  of  a  single  element. 

The  most  suitable  arrangement  of  the  closing  arc  for  obtaining  a  maxi- 
mum effect  with  a  given  electro-motor.  —  In  some  cases  the  electro-motor 
is  given,  and  the  question  is,  how  the  coils  of  wire  must  be  selected  to 
obtain  a  maximum  effect  ;  from  the  same  quantity  of  copper,  are  many 
coils  of  a  thin  and  long  wire  to  be  made,  or  fewer  coils  with  short  and 
thick  wires  ?  In  the  case  of  multipliers,  the  quantity  of  copper  wire 
to  be  used  is  limited  by  the  space  which  can  be  conveniently  filled  by 
the  coils  ;  in  that  of  the  electro-magnets,  the  quantity  of  copper  wire 
is  limited  by  the  amount  of  money  to  be  expended  in  its  construction. 

Suppose  the  resistance  of  a  copper  wire  of  a  given  length  and  thick- 
ness, making  n  coils,  to  be  equal  to  Z,  or  the  resistance  of  the  electro- 
motor ;  then  the  force  of  the  currents  is, 


-        . 

—  27' 


GALVANISM.  457 

and  this  acting  in  n  coils  on  the  magnetic  needles  in  soft  iron,  we  can 
represent  its  effects  by 


If  we  make  the  wire  m  times  as  long,  the  mass  remaining  the  same, 
its  section  will  be  m  times  less,  and  then  the  resistance  m?  tunes 
greater ;  hence  the  force  of  the  current  is  now 

E  E 

but  of  this  length  of  wire,  m  times  as  many  coils  can  be  made  as  be- 
fore ;  thus,  the  magnetic  effect  is  now 

E  E 

M1  =  m  .  n  .  l         ,    ^  =  n  — p-  • 

But  the  value  of  M,  as  just  proved,  is  always  greater  than  the  value 
of  M1.  Hence,  with  a  given  mass  of  wire,  a  maximum  of  magnetic  effect 
is  obtained  by  giving  to  the  wire  such  a  thickness  and  length  that  the  resist- 
ance in  the  coils  is  equal  to  that  of  the  elements. 

Comparison  of  the  Effects  of  different  Batteries  in  given  Cases.  —  The 
strength  of  the  current  for  any  given  case  can  be  computed  from  the 
constants  of  different  batteries.  If  the  resistance  of  the  closing  arc  is 
I,  for  a  zinc  and  carbon  battery  with  a  mean  surface  of  one  square 
decimetre,  and  using  Stohrer  cells  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the 

strength  of  current  is 

824 

-12+T 

For  a  Darnell's  element,  of  the  same  size,  with  sulphuric  acid  of  the 
same  degree  of  dilution,  the  force  of  the  current  would  be 

470  470 

12  X  1.8  -H   "  21.6  +  1  ' 

If  I  is  very  small,  compared  with  the  resistance  of  the  elements,  the 
strength  of  their  currents  will  be  to  each  other  as  -jr-  to  -  '  --,  or  as 

68.6  to  21.8  ;  hence  the  current  of  the  zinc  and  carbon  battery  is  more 
than  three  times  as  strong  as  the  other.  When  the  current  is  well 
closed,  a  zinc  and  carbon  element  will  effect  as  much  as  a  Daniell's 
element  of  three  times  as  great  a  mean  surface. 

When  the  resistance  is  very  great,  the  ratio  is  different ;  then  the 
strength  of  the  current  is  proportional  to  the  electro-motive  force,  or 
39 


458  GALVANISM. 

as  470  to  824.  In  this  case,  by  increasing  the  surface  of  the  zinc  and 
copper  element,  but  little  would  be  gained.  Two  Daniell's  elements 
would  have  to  be  united,  to  obtain  the  same  effect  as  with  one  zinc 
and  carbon  element. 

The  effect  of  a  zinc  and  carbon  battery  can  be  attained  in  all  cases 
with  a  Daniell's  battery,  by  giving  to  single  elements  of  the  latter  a 
threefold  surface,  and  using  twice  as  many  of  them  as  would  be  re- 
quired of  zinc  and  carbon  elements. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  zinc  and  carbon  battery  holds  good  for 
Grove's  battery,  since  the  constants  are  nearly  the  same  in  both. 

We  present  the  description  of  a  few  instruments,  which  have  been 
used  for  measuring,  in  the  course  of  the  previous  experiments. 

Rheostats.  —  To  accomplish  a  gradual  change  of  the  resistance  in  the 
closing  circuit  of  an  electro-motor  within  the  desired  limit,  without 
being  obliged  to  open  the  circuit,  several  instruments  have  been  pro- 
posed, chiefly  by  Jacobi  and  Wheatstone.  Jacobi  called  his  instrument 
an  agometer.  An  instrument  of  this  kind  is  very  costly,  and  therefore 
will  not  be  generally  employed,  especially  since  Wheatstone's  instru- 
ments, constructed  for  the  same  object,  besides  answering  the  purpose 
equally  well,  are  far  simpler  and  more  convenient  in  manipulation. 
Wheatstone's  rheostat  with  thick  wire  is  to  be  used  when  the  resistance 
of  the  closing  conductor  is  not  very  great.  But  when  the  entire  re- 
sistance in  the  battery  is  very  considerable,  a  great  length  of  this  thick 
wire  would  have  to  be  wound  or  unwound  to  produce  a  sensible  change 
in  the  strength  of  the  current ;  consequently,  in  such  cases  a  rheostat 
with  a  thin  wire  must  be  used,  and  which,  of  course,  must  have  a  dif- 
ferent construction. 

Wheatstone's  rheostat  with  a  thin  wire  has  a  cylinder  of  dry  wood 
about  six  inches  long  and  one  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  a  cylinder 
of  brass  having  the  same  dimensions.  The  axes  of  the  two  cylinders 
are  parallel.  A  screw-thread  is  cut  in  the  wooden  cylinder,  and  at  its 
end  there  is  a  brass  ring,  to  which  the  end  of  a  long  and  very  fine  wire 
is  fastened.  This  is  so  wound  upon  the  wooden  cylinder  as  to  fill  all 
the  screw-threads,  and  its  other  extremity  is  then  fastened  to  the  oppo- 
site end  of  the  brass  cylinder.  By  means  of  a  crank,  which  is  turned 
to  the  right,  the  wire  is  unwound  from  the  wooden  cylinder,  and  wound 
upon  the  brass  one ;  on  the  other  hand,  by  turning  to  the  left,  the  re- 
verse takes  place.  Since  the  coils  are  insulated  on  the  wooden  cylin- 
der, and  kept  apart  by  the  screw-thread,  the  current  traverses  the 
wire  throughout  its  whole  length  on  this  cylinder ;  but  on  the  brass 
cylinder,  where  the  coils  are  not  insulated,  the  current  passes  at  once 


GALVANISM.  459 

from  the  point  where  the  wire  touches  the  cylinder  to  the  spring.  The 
resisting  part  of  the  length  of  the  wire  is  therefore  the  variable  por- 
tion which  may  happen  to  be  on  the  wooden  cylinder.  There  are 
forty  screw-threads  of  the  wooden  cylinder  to  an  inch.  The  wire  is 
of  brass,  and  0.01  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

For  counting  the  number  of  coils  unwound,  a  scale  is  placed  be- 
tween the  two  cylinders,  and  the  fraction  of  a  turn  is  estimated  by  an 
index  fastened  on  the  axis  of  one  of  the  cylinders,  and  which  points  to 
the  divisions  of  a  graduated  circle. 

Differential  Measurer  of  Resistance.  —  For  determining  the  resist- 
ance of  metallic  wires,  Wheatstone  has  given  a  very  simple  process. 
The  rheostat  is  inserted  in  the  conducting  arc  of  a  constant  element 
with  the  galvanometer  and  the  wire  whose  resistance  is  to  be  deter- 
mined, and  the  whole  resistance  is  so  regulated  that  the  needle  can 
come  to  rest  at  any  desired  point,  a,  of  the  graduated  circle.  Now, 
removing  the  wire  from  the  circuit,  the  needle  will  indicate  a  greater 
deflection  ;  and  to  bring  it  back  to  the  point  a,  a  definite  number  of 
turns  of  the  rheostat  must  be  added  to  the  existing  resistance.  We 
find,  in  this  manner,  how  great  the  resistance  of  the  wire  in  question 
is,  expressed  in  turns  of  the  rheostat. 

By  this  method,  nearly  equally  accurate  results  are  obtained,  whether 
a  multiplier,  the  much  less  sensitive  tangent  compass,  or  any  other 
galvanometer  be  used.  The  reason  is  as  follows :  —  To  produce  in  a 
tangent  compass  a  deflection  of,  say  45°,  the  entire  resistance  of  the 
closing  conductor  must  not  be  very  great.  Suppose  R  is  the  entire 
resistance  of  the  whole  battery,  and  an  increase  or  decrease,  r,  of  this 
resistance  produces  such  a  change  in  the  strength  of  the  current  that 
the  deflection  of  the  needle  is  varied  by  1°.  Now,  by  using  a  multiplier, 
which  is  about  150  times  more  sensitive  than  the  tangent  compass,  the 
entire  resistance  of  the  battery  must  be  about  150  R  to  cause  a  deflec- 
tion of  the  needle  of  45°.  To  produce  a  like  change  in  the  strength  of 
the  current  as  that  above  mentioned,  the  resistance  must  now  be  in- 
creased or  decreased  by  150  r.  But,  since  the  multiplier  is  150  times 
more  sensitive  than  the  tangent  compass,  the  150th  part  of  this  change 
of  resistance,  or  r,  will  suffice  to  advance  or  bring  back  the  position  of 
the  needle  by  1°  ;  thus  the  same  change  of  resistance,  r,  produces  in, 
both  instruments  nearly  equal  changes  of  deflection. 


460  GALVANISM. 


EXPLANATION  OF  VARIOUS  TECHNICAL  TERMS. 

The  terms  quantity,  intensity,  electro-motive  force,  and  electric  tension, 
as  applied  in  the  science  of  electricity,  are  not  easily  comprehended  by 
the  student,  and,  in  fact,  are  not  always  used  by  writers  upon  the  sub- 
ject with  absolute  consistency.  De  la  Rive,  for  instance,  uses  the  term 
intensity  as  synonymous  with  strength  of  current,  as  indeed  do  Miiller, 
Lardner,  and  many  others  ;  while  Faraday  uses  the  term  as  equivalent 
to  electro-motive  force,  —  or,  in  other  words,  as  proportionate  to  the 
number  of  cetts  in  a  battery,  irrespective  of  the  size  of  the  plates.  We 
will  quote  the  definitions  of  various  writers  entitled  to  credit  upon  this 
subject. 

Faraday  says  :  "  The  action  in  each  cell  is  not  to  increase  the  quan- 
tity set  in  motion  in  any  one  cell,  but  to  aid  in  urging  forward  that 
quantity,  the  passing  of  which  is  consistent  with  the  oxidation  of  its 
own  zinc  ;  and  in  this  way  it  exalts  that  peculiar  property  of  the  cur- 
rent which  we  endeavor  to  express  by  the  term  intensity,  without 
increasing  the  quantity  beyond  that  which  is  proportionate  to  the  quan- 
tity of  zinc  oxidized  in  any  single  cell  of  the  series The  deflecting 

power  of  one  pair  of  plates  in  a  battery  being  equal  to  the  deflecting 
power  of  the  whole,  provided  the  wires  used  be  sufficiently  large  to 
carry  the  current  of  the  single  pair  freely." 

Francis  Watkins  says :  "  The  amount  of  the  angle  of  deviation  of  the 
magnetic  needle  caused  by  the  action  of  an  electric  current,  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  quantity,  and  not  to  the  intensity,  possessed  by  the 
current." 

Professor  Daniell  says :  "  Intensity  does  not  at  all  depend  upon  the 
size  of  the  plates,  but  is  proportionate  to  the  number  of  alternations. 
A  battery  constructed  of  pieces  of  copper  tube  three  eighths  of  an  inch 
in  diameter  and  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  with  a  piece  of  zinc  wire 
one  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  soldered  to  each,  and  turned  down 
into  the  axis  of  the  next,  without  metallic  contact,  and  consisting  of  a 
series  of  1024,  will  be  quite  equal  to  a  battery  of  the  same  number  of 
plates  four  inches  square." 

From  Bird's  Natural  Philosophy :  "  It  is  necessary  to  make  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  quantity  and  intensity  of  the  electric  current ;  the 
former  having,  cceteris  paribus,  a  relation  to  the  size  of  the  plates,  and 
the  latter  to  the  number  of  alternations." 

From  Noad's  Manual  of  Electricity :  "  In  order  to  increase  the 
intensity  of  the  electrical  current,  with  a  view  to  the  exhibition  of  its 
chemical  and  physiological  effects,  we  increase  the  number  of  the 


GALVANISM.  461 

plates ;  an  arrangement  of  this  sort  is  called  the  compound  voltaic 
circle.  It  was  the  invention  of  Volta,  and  is  hence  called  the  voltaic 
pile.  Now  the  quantity  of  electricity  obtained  from  the  voltaic  pile  is 
no  greater  than  that  from  a  single  pair  of  plates  ;  it  is  its  intensity  alone 
that  is  increased ;  —  an  important  fact,  which  has  received  much  eluci- 
dation from  the  important  labors  of  Faraday." 

From  Harris's  Rudimentary  Electricity :  "  The  term  tension,  in  its 
general  acceptation,  applies  to  the  case  of  reactive  or  resisting  force, 
however  derived,  —  whether  to  the  reactive  force  of  an  elastic  fluid, 
such  as  air  heaving  out  under  compression,  or  to  the  reactive  force  of 
a  strained  or  twisted  wire,  as  in  the  instance  of  a  stretched  musical 
string,  or  a  wire  employed  in  a  balance  of  torsion.  In  either  instance, 
there  is  a  force  set  up  in  these  bodies,  by  which  they  tend  to  recover 
their  normal  state  ;  and  the  amount  of  this  force  is  virtually  the  ten- 
sion or  degree  of  suffering  to  which  they  are  exposed.  If  we  conceive, 
therefore,  for  an  instant,  according  to  the  French  theory,  that  electri- 
city is  a  certain  force  exerted  by  an  elastic  fluid,  capable  of  compression, 
then,  like  any  other  elastic  fluid,  such  as  steam  or  air,  it  would  exhibit 
a  certain  amount  of  tension  or  reactive  power ;  and  this  would  be  as 
the  density,  or  the  number  of  particles  confined  in  a  given  space  :  such 
would  be  the  signification  of  the  term  electrical  tension  taken  in  this 
sense. 

"  But  the  term  may  be  also,  and  equally  well,  applied  to  the  condi- 
tion of  polarized  molecules  of  a  dielectric  interposed  between  two 
limiting  conductors.  In  this  case  it  expresses  the  reactive  force  of 
the  particles  constrained  to  assume  a  new  condition  in  their  electric 
relations,  and  the  amount  of  suffering  they  endure  in  their  forced 
deviation  from  their 'normal  state.  The  higher  the  compressive  and 
separated  powers  are  exalted,  the  greater  will  be  the  degree  of  tension 
which  they  endure.  In  a  similar  way,  the  lateral  or  transverse  force  of 
dilation  upon  the  representative  line  of  induction  is  a  kind  of  lateral 
tension  or  stretching  of  these  forces,  tending  to  throw  the  particles 
asunder,  all  of  which  may  be  conceived  to  increase  up  to  the  limit  of 
the  power  of  endurance ;  all  this  is  fairly  expressed  by  the  general 
term  tension,  and  which  term  thus  becomes  representative,  either  of 
the  particular  condition  of  the  electrical  agency  itself,  or  of  the  reactive 
state  of  the  molecules  of  a  dielectric  when  charged  by  induction. 

"Now  the  term  intensity,  although  of  the  same  class,  is  still  of  a 

somewhat  different  character  from  tension ;  it  rather  applies  to  degree 

or  amount  of  resistance ;  it  would  be  no  superfluity  of  language  to 

speak,  for  example,  of  the  intensity  of  the  tension,  as  indicative  of  it* 

3Q  * 


462  GALVANISM. 

greater  or  less  amount  in  degree  ;  just  as  we  say,  the  intensity  of  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  the  intensity  of  light,  &c.  In  its  application,  how- 
ever, to  ordinary  electrical  phenomena,  it  has  a  proper  and  marked 
position  assigned  to  it,  being  peculiarly  expressive  of  the  activity 
shown  by  an  electroscope  or  electrometer,  as  indicating  the  attractive 
force  of  a  charge  upon  external  bodies.  Thus  the  charge  communi- 
cated to  ajar  or  battery  may  be  taken  in  terms  of  the  quadrant  elec- 
trometer, or  any  other  indicator,  in  which  sense  we  speak  of  the  jar 
being  charged  to  a  given  intensity ;  but  what  renders  this  term  par- 
ticularly necessary  and  distinctive,  is  the  fact  that  this  activity  or 
intensity  is  as  the  square  of  the  quantity  of  electricity  accumulated ; 
whereas  the  tension  or  force  in  the  dielectric  particles  actually  consti- 
tuting the  charge  itself  between  the  limiting  conducting  surface,  is  as 
the  quantity  only,  as  is  also  the  tension  of  the  electrical  agency  itself 
when  restrained  to  a  given  space.  In  the  case  of  charged  glass,  or 
other  dielectric,  the  electrometer  indicates  the  activity  of  the  uncom- 
pensated  electricity,  or  the  free  action,  as  it  were,  of  the  charged  sur- 
fade.  This  is  one  thing,  but  the  tension  or  degree  of  power  in  the 
molecules  of  the  intervening  dielectric,  tending  to  break  down  the 
induction  by  a  species  of  mechanical  violence,  as  in  the  case  of  a  frac- 
ture of  a  charged  jar,  is  another ;  and  hence  the  two  terms  tension  and 
intensity  are,  under  these  limitations,  fairly  and  distinctly  separable. 

From  Smee's  Electric  Metallurgy:  "A  galvanic  battery  exhibits 
two  important  properties,  quantity  and  intensity.  Quantity  depends 
directly  upon  the  size  of  the  negative  metal,  or  strength  of  the  solution, 
while  intensity  depends  upon  much  more  hidden  causes.  Quantity  re- 
quires but  one  cell.  To  obtain  intensity,  we  must  have  recourse  to  a 
number  of  galvanic  batteries,  arranged  as  a  series ;  that  is,  the  zinc  of 
one  battery  connected  with  the  copper  of  the  next,  and  this  in  regular 
continuation,  leaving  the  extreme  zinc  and  silver  free.  In  this  way  a 
hundred  batteries  may  be  conjoined,  but  no  more  quantity  obtained ; 
for  only  the  same  amount  of  electricity  passes  as  when  one  cell  is 
used.  Now,  however,  this  same  amount  can  pass  through  a  much 
greater  resistance  ;  for  it  would  seem  as  if,  at  every  alternation  of  the 
battery,  the  electric  fluid  obtained  a  push  to  overcome  any  obstacle 
afforded  to  its  passage,  and  this  push  is  called  its  intensity. 

"  To  the  beginner  these  two  properties  are  very  difficult  to  under- 
stand ;  but  perhaps  a  rough  idea  may  be  formed  of  them  by  compar- 
ing quantity  to  the  piston  imparting  motion  to  a  railway  train,  which 
moves  readily  with  one  engine  on  a  level  road ;  let  the  train  meet  an 
obstacle,  as  an  inclined  plane  or  a  hill,  two,  three,  or  one  hundred 


GALVANISM.  463 

engines  may  be  required  to  move  this  same  train  over,  and  yet  the 
piston  which  turns  the  wheels  of  the  carriage  would  move  no  more 
times  than  if  one  engine  had  been  employed. 

"  There  is  no  advantage,  but  even  a  loss,  in  using  a  battery  with  an 
intensity  more  than  sufficient  to  overcome  a  resistance,  whether  pro- 
duced by  a  fluid  to  be  decomposed,  or  by  any  other  means ;  for  if  ten 
cells  arranged  as  a  compound  battery  be  sufficient  to  overcome  the 
obstacle,  the  effect  of  sixty  cells,  arranged  as  six  tens,  would  be  six 
times  as  much  as  if  a  single  ten  were  used,  because  they  would  then 
form  a  battery  of  six  times  the  size,  but  of  the  same  intensity,  as  before ; 
but  if  the  whole  were  used  as  one  compound  series,  the  resulting  de- 
composition would  be  considerably  less  than  six  times  the  quantity,  and 
to  use  a  battery  with  advantage  this  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind.  If, 
again,  the  surfaces  be  increased  before  sufficient  intensity  be  obtained, 
in  like  manner  it  will  not  add  a  proportionate  amount  of  power. 

"  A  compound  galvanic  battery,  or  one  of  many  cells,  has  the  same 
quantity  of  electricity  passing  in  eacK  cell,  and  therefore  the  same 
quantity  of  zinc  dissolved.  On  this  account;,  the  fewer  the  cells  that  can 
be  employed  to  overcome  the  obstacle,  the  greater  will  be  the  economy. 
It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that,  as  soon  as,  by  increasing  the  series,  suffi- 
cient intensity  has  been  obtained  to  overcome  partially  the  resistance, 
quantity  should  be  sought  by  increasing  the  surface  ;  for  when  one  cell, 
as  a  single  series,  requires  one  pound  of  zinc  to  do  a  given  amount  of 
work,  when  that  same  work  is  done  more  quickly  by  twelve  cells, 
twelve  pounds  are  dissolved,  —  one  pound  in  each  cell ;  and  of  what- 
ever size  the  cells  may  be,  still  the  result  will  be  the  same,  for  no  more 
zinc  will  be  dissolved." 

De  la  Rive  says :  "  The  absolute  intensity  of  the  electricity  that 
travels  in  the  form  of  a  current  through  a  closed  circuit,  depends 
upon  two  circumstances  alone,  —  the  force  or  forces  that  produce  the 
electricity,  and  which  we  may  call  electro-motive  forces,  and  the  re- 
sistances to  conductibility  presented  by  all  the  circuits  taken  together. 
In  an  important  work  which  appeared  in  1827,  M.  Ohm,  as  a  result 
of  purely  theoretical  speculation,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  force 
of  the  current  in  a  closed  circuit  is  directly  proportional  to  the  sum  of 
the  electro-motive  forces  that  are  in  activity  in  the  circuit,  and  in- 
versely proportional  to  the  total  resistance,  or  the  sum  of  the  resist- ' 
ances  of  all  the  parts  of  the  circuit ;  in  other  words,  that  the  intensity 
of  the  current  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  electro-motive  forces  divided 
by  the  sum  of  the  resistances." 


INDEX 


Aerial  Telegraph  Lines,  240. 
Alexander's  Electric  Telegraph,  400. 
Alphabet,  Bain's,  132. 
Dyar's  131. 
Fire- Alarm,  239. 
Morse's,  89. 
SteinheiPs,  131. 
Wheatsone's,  105. 
"         Dot  and  Line,  412. 
American  Printing  Telegraph,  144. 
Amber,  11. 

Ampere's  Discoveries,  306  -  406. 
"         Telegraph,  393. 
"         Key,  410. 
Anemometer,  410. 
Arago's  Electro-Magnet,  43. 
Armature,  Electro-Magnet  and,  406. 
Arrest  of  Fugitives  from  Justice,  348. 
Attraction,  Electric,  11. 
Atmospheric  Electricity,  295. 
Atlantic  Cable,  175. 

"  '«      Cost  of,  184. 

"  "      Failure  of,  185. 

"  "      Copy  of  Messages  trans- 

mitted through,  185. 
"  "     News  from  Europe  via. 

199-201. 
"      Fault  in,  208. 
"  "      Last    Examination    of, 

211. 
"  "      Telegraph    Company's 

Experiments,  183. 
Aurora  Borealis,  309. 
Australia,  Telegraph  in,  217. 

Bagdad,  Telegraph  to,  228. 
Bain's  Rapid  System,  134. 

"      Telegraph.  Superiority  of,  133. 

"      Call,  130. 

"     Lines,  127. 

"     Electro-Chemical    Telegraph, 
127. 

"     Needle  Telegraph,«109. 

"     Experiments  upon  the  Conduc- 
tibffity  of  the  Earth,  55. 


Bakewell's  Copying  Telegraph,  135. 
Barlow,  Theory  of  Terrestrial  Magnet- 
ism, 306. 
Battery,  Bunsen's,  30. 

"       Cruikshank's,23. 

"       Couronne  de  Tasses,  23. 

"       Chester's,  27,  33. 

"       Daniell's,  25. 

"       Grove's,  27. 

"       Iron  and  Iron,  452. 

"       The  Hyper-oxide,  439. 

."       Smee's,  32. 

"       Volta's,  21. 

"       Wollaston's,  444. 

"       Zinc  and  Copper,  One-Liquid, 
447. 

"       Zinc  and  Copper,  Two-Liquid, 
449. 

"       Zinc  and  Iron,  451. 
Bavaria,  Telegraph  in,  215. 
Belgium,  Telegraph  in,  215. 
Bell's  Evidence  in  Morse  Case,  427. 
Betancourt's  Electric  Telegraph,  59. 
Bogenhausen,  Telegraph  between  Mu- 
nich and,  405. 

Bonijal's  Improvement  in  Battery,  31. 
Brdguet's  Dial  Telegraph,  68. 
Brevity  in  Despatches,  339. 
Bunsen's  Battery,  30. 

Cable,  Atlantic,  179. 

"      Submarine,  176. 
California,  Telegraph  to,  220. 
Carbon  Battery,  30. 
Cavallo's  Experiments,  59. 
Celerity  of  Transmission,  346. 
Chanmng,  Dr.  Wm.  F.,  169. 
Chappe's  Telegraph,  6. 
Chemical  Telegraphs,  60. 

"  Bain,  60, 109. 

"  "  Bakewell,  135. 

"  "  Caselli,  137. 

"  "  Coxe,  59. 

"  "  Davy,  417. 

Jackson,  406. 


INDEX. 


465 


Chemical  Telegraph,  Smith,  59. 

44  Soemmering,390. 

Chester's  Telegraph  Battery,  27  -  33. 
44        Submarine  Cable,  178. 

China,  Telegraph  in,  219. 

Circuit,  Electric,  42. 

Coke,  Battery  of  Bunsen,  30. 

Combination  of  Circuits,  79. 
Telegraph,  144. 
"          Instrument,  Speed  of,  149. 

Common  Reservoir,  15. 

Communication,  to  electrize  by,  15. 

Company,  American  Telegraph,  293. 

Comparison  of  different  Voltaic  Com- 
binations, 447. 

Cvmptes  Rendtis,  411. 

Conductibility  of  the  Earth,  67. 

Conducting  Properties,  12. 

Conducting  Bodies  and  Insulating  Bod- 
ies, 14. 

Conductors  and  Non-Conductors,  12. 

Connecting  Screws,  97. 

Consolidation  of  Telegraph  Lines,  291. 

Construction  of  Telegraph  Lines,  258. 

Continental  Europe,  distance  between 
Stations  in,  215. 

Cooper,  Peter,  Message  of,  191. 

Copying  Telegraphs,  135  - 136. 

Cost  of  Constructing  Telegraph  Lines, 
267. 

Couronne  de  Tasses,  23. 

Coxe's,  Dr.  J.  R.,  Telegraph,  59. 

Cramp-Fish,  87. 

Cruikshank's  Battery,  23. 

Cuba,  Telegraph  in,  217. 

Daniell's  Constant  Battery,  25. 
Davy's  Electric  Telegraph,  417. 
Decomposition  of  Water,  435. 
De  Heer's,  Vorselmann,  Telegraph,  60. 
De  Sauty,  the  Mythical  Operator,  227, 

353. 
Determination  of  the  Constant  Galvanic 

Battery,  441.  * 
Dial  Telegraphs,  160. 
Differential    Measurer   of  Resistance, 

459. 

Discovery  of  the  Intensity  Magnet,  333. 
Distance  worked  in  one  Circuit,  133. 
44  "      by  Means  of  Repeat- 

ers, 220. 

Dot  and  Line  Alphabet,  363. 
Dover  and  Calais  Cable,  174. 
Dyar's  Telegraph,  7,  59,  427. 
Dynamic  State  of  Electricity,  16,  39. 

Earth,  Conductibility  of,  54. 
Eddy,  James,  Death  of,  198. 
Eddy's  Induction  Coil,  153. 
Electricity,  Derivation  of  Name,  11. 
"          Transmission  through  Con- 
ductors, 12. 


Electricity,  Various  Manifestations  of, 

68. 

Different  States  of,  17,  62. 
"          High  Tension  and  Low  Ten- 
sion, 16. 

"         Nature  of,  17. 
Electric  Current,  42. 
"       Discharge,  16. 
"       Eel,  35. 
"       Tension,  16,  459. 
"       Currents,  Velocity  of,  63,  67. 
"       Intensity  of.  65. 
Electric  Telegraph,  Invention  of,  6. 
"  "          General  Principles 

of,  53. 

"  "          Uses  of,  234. 

"  «          Mistakes  of,  346. 

"          Progress  of,  214. 
"  "          Ampere's,  59,  393. 

•    "  "          Alexander's,  400. 

44  "          Bain's,  60,  109. 

"  "          Bakewell's,  135. 

"          Br^guet's,  165. 
"  '4          Betancourt's,  59. 

"  "          Barlow's,  394. 

"  "          Caselli's,  136. 

"  "          Combination,  144. 

"  "          Coxe's,  59. 

"  u          Cavallo's,  59. 

"          Columbian,  158. 
"          Davy's,  417. 
"          Davenport's,  424. 
"          Dyar's,  7,  59,  427. 
"          Froment's,  163. 
"          Farmer  and  Batch- 
elder's,  158. 

"          Fire-Alarm,  237. 
"  "          Fechner's,  394. 

Gauss  and  Weber's, 

60,  395. 

"          Gurly's,  421. 
"  "          Home's,  60,  156. 

"  "          House's,  ill. 

"          Hughes's,  139 . 
**          Jackson's,  406. 
"          Jacobi's,  424. 
"  "          Lesage's,  59. 

"          Lomond's,  59. 
"          Masson's,  60. 
"          Morse's,  60,  73, 404. 
"          Ronald's,  7,  59. 
"          Ritchie's,  394. 

Reizen's,  59. 
"          Rogers's,  159. 
"          Salva's,  6. 
"          Schilling's,  59,  394. 
l\          Siemens's,  166. 

Soemmering's,   59, 

390. 

"  Smith's,  391. 

"  "          Steinheil's,  59, 395. 

"  "          Strada's,  6. 

DD 


466 


INDEX. 


Electric  Telegraph,  Sturgeon's,  402. 
"  "          Taquin  and  Euty- 

chaussen,  424. 

"  "          Triboaillet's,  394. 

"  "          Vail's,  402. 

"  "          Vorselmann     de 

Heer's,  60. 
"  "          Wheatstone's,     65, 

100,  160. 

"  "          upon  Railways,232. 

"  «          in     Scientific    and 

Astronomical  Ob- 
servations, 249. 
"          in     Meteorological 
Observations,  254. 
"  «          Fire-Alarm,  237. 

"  "          in  Italy,  276. 

"  '•          in  India,  277. 

"  "          in    England,     215, 

284. 
"  "          in    United    States, 

289. 

"  "          in  Erance,  215. 

Electro-Motive  Force,  459. 
"       Dynamics,  41. 
"       Magnet,  44. 

u       Magnetic  Galvanometers,  45. 
"       Static    Effects   of  Electro-dy- 
namic Induction,  51. 
Electron,  11. 
Elliott,  E.  B.,  on  working  Several  Lines 

from  one  Battery,  387. 
English  Submarine  Cable,  284. 
''       Subterranean  Lines,  284. 

Faraday's,  Prof.,  Discovery  of  Induced 

Currents,  47. 

Farmer  and  Woodman's  Repeater,  94. 
Field,  Cyrus  W.,  182,  187. 
Fisher's,  Dr.,  Assistance  to  Mr.  Morse, 

416. 

Fizeau  and  Gonelle's  Experiments,  67. 
Fluid,  Electric,  11. 
France,  Telegraph  in,  215. 
Franklin's  Experiments,  296,  419. 

"          Theory  of  Electricity,  18. 
Frictional  Electricity,  11. 

Gales,  Dr.,  Assistance  to  Mr.  Morse, 

416. 

Galvani,  21. 
Galvanism,  21,  432. 
Galvanic  Pile,  Volta's,  21. 
"        Batteries,  25. 
"  "        Defects  of,  24. 

«  "         Constant,  25. 

"  "        Daniell's,    Grove's, 

Bunsen's,  Smee's, 
Chester's,  and 
Cruikshank's,  24, 

35,  443,  450. 
Galvanometer  Multiplier,  46,  286. 


Gauss  and  Weber's  Telegraph,  60,  395. 

Germany,  Telegraph  in,  215. 

General  Principles  of  the  Electric  Tele- 
graph, 53. 

Glass,  Hygrometric  Properties  of,  13. 

Glauber  Salts,  Use  of,  450. 

Governor,  Phelps's  Magnetic,  148. 

Great  Britain,  Telegraphs  in,  215. 
"          "       Rates  of  Charges  in,  216. 

Grove's  Battery,  27. 

Gutta-Percha,  170. 

Gymnotus  Electricus.  35. 

Helix,  43. 

Henry's,  Professor,  Discoveries  in  Elec- 
tro-Magnetism, 79,  406.     Testimony 
of,  in  the  House  Case,  413. 
Horn's  Igniting  Telegraph,  156. 
Horseshoe  Magnet,  406. 
House-top  Telegraph,  355. 
House,  R.  E.,  Origin  of,  112. 
"      Telegraph,  111. 
"     Lines,  114. 
"      Helix,  Resistance  of,  126. 
"      Trial,  Notice  of,  421. 
How  Cyrus  Laid  the  Cable,  352. 
How  Despatches   should  be   Written, 

349. 

Hughes's  Printing  Telegraph,  139. 
Humboldt's  Experiments  with  Electric 

Fishes,  36. 
"  Description  of  the  Aurora 

Borealis,  310. 

Hunter  on  the  Anatomical  Structure  of 
the  Torpedo,  36. 

Igniting  Telegraph,  156. 

India,  Telegraph  in,  277. 

Indicating  Telegraphs,  160,  163,  166. 

Induced  Currents,  47. 

"          Intensity  of,  48. 

Injunction    on    the    Columbian    Tele- 
graph, 158. 

Insulating  Bodies,  Tables  of,  14. 

Insulation,  262. 

Insulators,  12,  263,  265. 

Intensity  Magnets,  Discovery  of,  333. 

Intensity  of  Electric  Currents,  65,  289, 
459. 

Italy,  Telegraph  in,  215,  276. 

Jackson,  Dr.  C.  T.,  on  the  Telegraph, 

406. 
Joking  by  Telegraph,  343. 

Key-Board  of  House  Instrument,  116. 
"        "      of  Combination  Instrument, 
147. 

Lesage,  Electric  Telegraph,  6. 
Lever  and  Steel  Point,  412. 
Leyden  Jar,  61. 


INDEX. 


467 


Lightning,  Effects  of,  295. 
Lightning  Arresters,  299. 
Lines  of  Telegraph  in  Prussia,  171. 
"  «         in  the  United  States, 

214,  289. 

"         in  England,  215, 284. 
"         in  France,  215. 
"          in  Germany,  215. 
"          in  Italy,  2-15,  276. 
"         in  Australia,  217. 
"         in  California,  220. 
"         in  Mexico,  217. 
"         in  Cuba,  217. 
"         in  Russia,  215. 
in  Turkey,  228. 
"         in  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal, 213. 

"         in  India,  277. 
"         in  China,  219. 
"         inWurtemberg,215. 
"         in  Bagdad,  228. 
"         in  Bavaria,  215. 
"         in  Belgium,  215. 
"         in  Sweden,  215. 
"         in  Switzerland,  215. 
"         in  Sardinia,  215. 
"          in  Saxony,  215. 
"         Subterranean,  169. 
"  "  in  the 

World,  215. 

"  "          House-top,  355. 

"  t;          Consolidation       of, 

291. 

"         Construction  of,  25. 
Loadstone,  38. 
Local  Circuit,  412. 
Locating  Breaks,  279. 
Lomond's  Electric  Telegraph,  59. 

Magnet,  Natural,  38. 
"      Electro,  41. 
Magnetic  Storm,  145. 
Magnetism,  38. 
Magnetized  Needle,  40. 
Magneto-Electricity,  48. 
Magneto-Electric  Machines,  48. 
Magnetometer,  381. 
Malta  Cable,  226. 
Manipulator,  97. 
Matteucci's  Experiments,  68. 
Maury's  Soundings,  179. 
Mexico,  Telegraph  in,  217. 
Miles  of  Telegraph  Lines  in  the  United 

States,  214. 
"  "  "       in  the  World, 

215. 

Mistakes  of  the  Telegraph,  346. 
Mitchell,  Professor,  on  Velocity  of  Elec- 
tricity, 67. 

Morse's  Magnetic  Telegraph,  73,  404. 
Mural  Diagraph,  420. 
Music  by  Telegraph,  334. 


Natural  Currents,  303. 

Needle  Telegraphs,  100. 

Negative  Electricity,  11. 

Neutral  Fluid,  15. 

New  York  and  Boston  Telegraph  Lines, 

372. 
Novel  Meeting,  350. 

Oersted's    Discovery  of  Electro-Mag- 
netism, 39. 
Ohm's  Formula,  287. 

Pantographic  Telegraph,  136. 
Persons    unqualified    for  Telegraphy, 

347. 
Phelps's  Magnetic  Governor,  148. 

"         Patent,  152. 
Pocket  Battery,  34. 
Poem  upon  Atlantic  Cable,  182. 
PoggendorfTs  Theory,  447. 
Polarization  in  Batteries,  447. 
Poles  of  a  Galvanic  Battery,  22. 
Positive  Electricity,  11. 
Posts  for  Telegraph  Lines,  258. 
Pouillett's  Experiments,  96. 
President's  Message  through  the  Cable, 

Progress  of  the  Electric  Telegraph,  214. 
Propagation  of  Electricity,  12. 
Prussian  Subterranean  Lines,  171. 
Printing  Telegraph,  House's,  111. 
"  "         Hughes's,  139. 

"         Vail's,  402. 

"         Combination,  144. 

Quantity  and  Intensity  Electric  Cur- 
rents, 459. 

Queen  Victoria's  Message  through  the 
Cable,  186. 

Raia  Torpedo,  35. 

Railroad  Telegraphs,  232. 

Rapidity    of    Telegraph    Instruments. 

231,  387. 
Reading  by  Sight,  369. 

"        by  Sound,  340,  419. 

"        by  Shocks,  340. 

"        by  Taste,  369. 

"        by  Smell,  370. 
Receiving  Magnet,  Morse's,  81. 
Receipts  of  Telegraph  Companies,  292. 
Reizen's  Electric  Telegraph,  59. 
Repairing  Telegraph  Lines,  278. 
Repeaters,  93. 
Repulsion,  Electric,  11. 
Resinous  Electricity,  11. 
Resistances,  80,  284,  381. 
Return  Currents,  304. 
Rheostat,  458. 
Ronald's  Telegraph,  59. 
Ruhmkorffs  Induction  Apparatus,  51 
Russia,  Telegraph  in,  215. 


468 


INDEX. 


Salts  used  by  Bain,  128. 
Salva's  Telegraph,  6. 
Sardinia,  Telegraph  in,  215. 
Saxony,  "      215. 

Schonbein's  Theory  of  Electric  Forces, 

434. 

Schilling's  Telegraph,  59. 
Schweigger,    Electro-Magnetic    Multi- 
plier, 406. 

Schulther's  Experiments,  423. 
Secrecy  of  Telegraphic   Communica- 
tions, 337. 

Seeing  the  Elephant,  340. 
Siemens' s  Experiments  on  Submarine 

Conductors,  221. 
Silurus  Electricus,  36. 
Smith's,    R.,    Electro-Chemical   Tele- 
graph, 391. 
Smee  Battery,  32. 

Soemmering's  Electro-Chemical  Tele- 
graph, 59. 

Sounder,  Morse's,  91. 
Speed  of  Morse's  Telegraph,  149. 

of  Wheatstone's  Telegraph,  149. 
of  Brdguet's  Telegraph,  231. 
of  House's  Telegraph.  149. 
of  Hughes's  Telegraph,  139. 
of  Bain's  Telegraph,  127. 
of  Combination  Telegraph,  149. 
Spiritual  Interruptions,  343. 
Static  State  of  Electricity,  16,  39. 
Steinheil's  Electro- Magnetic  Telegraph, 

395. 
"         Discovery  of  the  Conducti- 

bility  of  the  Earth,  54. 
Storms  and  accompanying  Phenomena, 

298. 

Strength  of  Current,  84. 
Sturgeon's  Experiments  on  the  Electro- 
Magnet,  406. 
Submarine  Cables,  176. 

"         Telegraphs,  174. 
Subterranean  Telegraph  Lines  in  the 

United  States,  169. 
Sweden,  Telegraph  in,  215. 
Switzerland,  Telegraph  in,  215. 

Telegraph.    See  Electric  Telegraph. 
"         upon  Railroad,  232. 
"         Fire- Alarm,  237. 
"         Progress  of  the  Electric,  214. 


Telegraphic  Feat,  Remarkable,  138. 

Telegraphing  Marine  Reports,  255. 

Telegraph  Plateau,  179. 

Terrestrial  Magnetism,  305. 

Testing  Lines,  285. 

Tetraodon  Electricus,  36. 

Theories  on  the  Nature  of  Electricity 

17. 

The  Operator  at  Trinity  Bay,  353. 
The  Telegraph  as  a  Detective  Agent, 

The  Associated  Press,  385. 
Thompson's  Marine  Galvanometer,  224. 
Turkey,  Telegraph  in,  215-228. 
Torpedo,  35. 

U  Form  of  Magnet,  406. 
Union  Telegraph  Lines,  291. 
United  States,  Telegraph  in,  214. 
Uses  of  the  Electric  Telegraph,  234. 

Vail's  Work  on  the  Telegraph,  273. 

"      Printing  Telegraph,  402. 

"      Assistance  to  Morse,  416. 
Velocity  of  the  Electric  Current,  63. 
Vitreous  Electricity,  11. 
Volta's  Discovery  of  the  Electric  Cur- 
rent, 21. 

"       Pile,  21. 
Voltaic  Battery,  21. 

"        Circuit,  41. 
Vorselmann  de  Heer's  Telegraph,  56. 

Walker  on  the  Velocity  of  Electric  it  v, 

67. 

Watson's  Experiments,  205. 
Water,  Passage  of  Electricity  through, 

62.    Resistance  of,  62. 
Webster's  Speeches  improved  by  Tele- 
graph, 349. 
Wheatstone's  Dial  Telegraph,  160. 

"  Submarine  Experiments, 

223. 

"  Needle  Telegraph,  100. 

"  Local  Circuit,  414. 

Wire  Conductors,  260. 
Woodbury's     Decision     on     Morse's 

Claims,  421. 

Working  Several  Lines  from  One  Bat- 
tery, 273-387. 
Wurtemberg,  Telegraph  in,  215. 


THE    END. 


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